Jules
Directed by Marc Turtletaub
Written by Gavin Steckler
Starring Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Zoë Winters, Jade Quon, and Jane Curtin
Runtime: 87 minutes
Rated PG-13
In theaters August 11

by Daniel Pecoraro, Contributor

Given that UFOs are in the news of late, Jules seems almost timely. Yet it also feels like a movie that could have been made at any point in the last few decades of independent film: the plot is straightforward, the cast small, and the tone generally light, though occasionally moving. And to boot, the little gray man is archetypal among alien visitors.

This extraterrestrial encounter is set in picturesque western Pennsylvania (but filmed in Boonton, NJ). It’s home to Milton (Ben Kingsley, nearly unrecognizable in his gray wig), Joyce (Jane Curtin), and Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris, recently in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and most memorably as the boorish Barbara Rose in Phantom Thread). This trio is generally found at town council meetings, their main purpose to give brief but esoteric remarks on issues concerning the town not unlike the citizens of Parks and Recreation’s Pawnee. Milton is big on getting a crosswalk installed and a vaguely crackpot idea to change the town motto; Joyce is the resident pro-pickleballer; Sandy is a local economic booster and cross-generational connector. All three are missing people in their lives: Sandy’s late husband and estranged daughter and daughter-in-law; Milton, his late wife and estranged son; and Joyce, the many people in and out of her life between her town and Pittsburgh. Only elder daughter Denise (Zoë Winters) is still there for Milton, keeping track of bills while running the local pet clinic. She’s also looking out for warning signs of dementia: a newspaper in the freezer, a can of beans in the bathroom cabinet. 

The alien (Jade Quon, who does an excellent job in a fully silent role) crash-lands in Milton’s garden, breaking his birdbath and tearing through his azaleas. Milton is more put off by the damage to his garden than curious or shocked by this encounter. After a few days, Milton and the alien have a comfortable, quiet companionship, eating sliced apples and channel-surfing. (The montage of Milton giving the alien an AirBNB host-esque tour of his house was especially endearing.) Eventually, Sandy ends up drawn into Milton and the alien’s circle, giving Milton’s guest the titular name of Jules. After some spying, Joyce learns of Jules’s presence (though thinks of him more as a “Gary”) and the trio finds a new bond beyond town hall.

The rest of the story — to get Jules’ ship fixed and to get them traveling on — is fairly rote. There’s the government’s search for the UFO with some penny-ante Men in Black, a tropey exposition-device newscaster, and a display of Jules’ powers to save the day. An “alien/illegal alien” joke comes up at least two times too many. And there’s a whole plotline about cats that I still don’t fully understand, though (minor spoilers) it isn’t a cats-as-Melmacian-delicacy thing, exactly. 

But while the UFO is the vehicle of the plot, it’s not the most important piece of the puzzle. The heart of the story is Milton and Denise’s relationship, as Milton’s mental state begins to deteriorate and Jules’ presence reminds him to make the most of the time he has left on the planet he has home with a sound mind. These folks-of-a-certain-age moments are where Jules really takes off. Kingsley and Winters shine in the father-daughter relationship, alongside Sandy’s attempts to connect with younger generations, and Joyce both nostalgically and ruefully remembering her freewheeling city past. Set to Volker Bertelmann’s ambient score, Jules exhibits a gentleness and emotional care that transcends what could have been a trite story.