When I first saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 — which is my all-time favorite movie — I remember being disappointed that the Army is so deeply involved in meeting the aliens. I wanted Roy Neary and Gillian and all the other souls who were touched by the aliens’ “vision” to meet the aliens at Devil’s Tower on their own, without the interference of the government, for First Contact. I quickly got over that initial disappointment, but I still think that’s how it should have occurred. Now we have a movie where that actually happens, sort of, in Boonton, Pennsylvania (although it was actually filmed in Boonton, New Jersey, very close to where I reside).
Marc Turtletaub’s gentle drama finds widower Milton (Ben Kingsley) just hanging out in his garden, waiting for death to reunite him with his wife. One night a UFO crash lands in his garden, and eventually he befriends its inexpressive occupant (Jade Quon). Two local women (Harriet Harris, Jane Curtin) eventually discover Milton’s secret and help him care for his quiet visitor. Gradually they learn to help the alien repair its spaceship and send it on its way before the government can get its hands on the alien. Finally, they have a choice to make about their own futures.
As with all alien movies, the real subject being explored isn’t alien nature or culture, it’s ourselves. We cannot tell how much of what Milton or the two women tell the alien (which one names Jules, the other names Gary) that it understands, but in the telling, much is revealed about those who are speaking. Its presence actually brings these three people together in ways that living in the town and attending the same town meeting every day (a very weird circumstance) does not. The situation helps bring Milton out of his cocoon, forcing him to deal with his adult daughter (Zoe Winters) and at least try to contact his son before fate prevents him from ever doing so again.
This isn’t a particularly deep film, nor does it provide much action (after all, its stars are all senior citizens). But, like Close Encounters and the Cocoon films and their ilk, Jules does provide us a mirror in which to see ourselves in new ways. It’s a quiet little story in which regular ordinary actions are cherished and the extraordinary seems like magic. Everyone is worthy of magic in their lives, and the alien provides these three people with something they will never forget. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 23 December 2023.