Jules: Marvelous Movie on Aliens and Aging

For the majority of the holiday season, I tediously searched streaming sites for something to watch that would not render me agitated and distressed (like gratuitous violence and/or football), but also would not be vapid, boring, and ridiculously bland (like typical Hallmark Christmas fare).

Often I will rewatch beloved movies or coveted TV series in order to avoid these potential pitfalls. But there is only so many times one can do this before knowing what’s going to happen renders even the best of the best either agitating or boring or both.

But on December 31 I finally found something special. A film released in the summer of 2023 that I had never heard about or noticed, perhaps due to the nondescriptive title: Jules. Had I known Jules was the name bestowed a crash-landing alien of the extraterrestrial kind, I might have gotten to this gem of a flying saucer flick sooner.

Dubbed a science fiction (can’t get away from that when you’re dealing with UFOs and aliens) comedy drama, this movie didn’t disappoint on the latter. But because it involved an alien crashing into the backyard of an elderly gentleman named Milton in present-day smalltown Pennsylvania, there is very little science to this fiction, in my estimation. The story of Jules is, like my Other Worldly novels, more fantasy than typical dystopian or futuristic sci-fi.

In crucial ways it’s also not so very fictional, in that it’s painfully poignant and touchingly real in depicting how the elderly are perceived and treated by the clueless middle-aged, and by disdainful public officials, in this case city council members. As if senior citizens have nothing to offer society and are no longer credible solely due to their aging status.

To wit, literally everyone thinks Milton’s claim of an alien crashing in his backyard is proof of his senility. So much so they don’t even bother to check his backyard.

Granted, Milton is experiencing memory issues and some confusion, not to mention he seems more concerned about the flying saucer having flattened his azaleas and decimated his birdbath. Yet it is heart wrenching when he admits to being scared that there’s an unconscious, injured alien in his backyard while talking on the phone—uselessly into the void of the already-full voicemailbox of his daughter.

Before further details in which I will try to avoid spoilers, let’s talk about the delightful snark that rendered me oh so vindicated when it comes to my novels. In every discussion of Milton claiming there was an alien in his backyard, the initial response was always, “Does he mean an illegal alien?” As in an immigrant. It was flat-out funny the first and every time, even when you knew it was coming.

Jules, directed by Marc Turtletaub and written by Gavin Steckler, feels more like a novel adaptation, perhaps due to the fleshing out of the intricacies of all-too human emotion. Starring Ben Kingsley, whom I initially didn’t recognize with a full head of wavy hair falling to his shoulders, seventies-style, as 79-year-old Milton; Harriet Sansom Harris as Sandy, the sweet, trusting woman who befriends him; and the hilariously deadpan Jane Curtain as curmudgeon Joyce.

There are critical supporting roles such as Milton’s veterinarian daughter, but I’m focusing on the  “old folks” who are the shining stars of this film, primarily because they are the three who ultimately interact with the light-blue humanoid that finds itself stranded in Milton’s backyard.

And interact they do, despite Jules—named so by Sandy while Joyce decides he is more like “a Gary”— not being able to respond in kind. And yet the calming, kind expression emanating from Jules’s eyes is one of the best things about this film.

Of course I love that this alien isn’t emanating evil or pursuing nefarious purpose, though Jules does have some special powers that are a tad ominous.

There are moments involving government officials that are tongue-in-cheek hilarious, especially the news reports of a downed “weather balloon,” which gets changed to “satellite,” when they clearly know they’re dealing with a crashed UFO. Plus, oddly clever but slightly dark and gruesome elements involving what Jules needs to fix his saucer. Who would have thought?

I also got a kick out of  Jules’ favorite thing to eat, and that the spacecraft is a fairly simple gray metal flying saucer. Realistic and not overdone. Like Jules himself. Oh my gosh and the t-shirts! You just have to see it for yourself.

Jules is a lovely, tickle-your-funny-bone tale of the triumph of human kindness without resorting to the usual trite and sinister alien depictions. A great watch for new year’s eve, and I have no doubt I’ll view it at least one more time.

And can I just say that I wouldn’t mind a flying saucer landing in my vicinity in 2025? Happy New Year!