Jules is a robotic alien who crash-lands into Milton’s (Ben Kingsley) backyard, but he could as much have been a dodo bird because the real story here is not so much sci-fi as it is about an elderly man dealing with onset dementia. What director Marc Turtletaub and writer Gavin Steckler masterfully do in “Jules” is show the challenges an older man faces which extend beyond mild memory loss to being isolated, shunned, and generally ignored by the rest of the world.
Or maybe not so much when you consider how attentive his elderly female friends, Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin) are to him in a buddy way. The three combat his being ignored by the community and the disbelief that accompanies rumors about his new backyard guest. When Milton repeats at each town meeting his call for a different promotional tag line about the town or a new crosswalk, he is ignored except by his two friends.
Much of “Jules” has an authentic feel, despite the intergalactic guest, especially when his solicitous veterinarian daughter, Denise (Zoe Winters), tries to shepherd him into a home fearing that he is well on his way. He’s not, of course, because he’s just a bright guy not as nimble as he once was, open to a more eccentric life than his neighbors.
Little touches like having Jules doughy and expressionless except for his piercing eyes and the ship, a ‘50’s flying saucer, in Milton’s backyard unseen by neighbors lend a surreal Twilight Zone vibe that will end for certain with a homiletic turn to make the challenges worthwhile for everyone.
What this film lacks in the fast pace of AI, ET, or Robot and Frank, it makes up in the lack of daffiness associated with elderly folk or the grinding bad guys pursuing a robot. Jules has a leisurely pace that allows us to befriend Jules and his elderly earthlings. Yes, Kingsley is a remarkable actor.
Jules
Director: Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshiine)
Screenplay: Gavin Steckler (Playing House)
Cast: Ben Kingsley (Gandi)
Run Time: 1h 30m
Rating: PG 13
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and hosts Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com
