WARWICK SHOWCASE

JULES * * *

(Lovely little movie for seniors)

* * * *

“Jules” is a lovely little movie that is both for and about senior citizens.

It deals with loneliness, forgetfulness, early stages of Alzheimer’s, relationships with older children, and all those pesky little situations that seniors deal with daily.

Ben Kingsley stars as Milton, a curmudgeonly 78-year-old widower who loves to attend City Council meetings to express his opinions on local matters.

Milton is becoming forgetful, and his daughter is concerned, tricking him into being tested and trying to set him up for Assisted Living.

A rather mundane life changes for Milton when an alien spaceship crashes on his petunia bed one night and he finds himself sheltering a non-speaking alien, and feeding it apple slices as they spend their evenings watching TV, while Jules spends his days trying to fix the spaceship.

Two neighbors discover his new house guest and convince Milton not to tell anyone.

Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) connects with Jules, who saves her from a murderous burglar in a rather bizarre scene.

Joyce (Jane Curtin) wiggles her way into the group, providing another perspective toward treating Jules.

It all comes down to fixing the spaceship, which involves dead cats, (No fooling!)  and sending Jules on his way before the government officials catch up with him and everyone can live happily ever after.

If you can suspend your belief and logic and just accept certain premises, like how come nobody in this suburban neighborhood has a clue that the spaceship landed. Where’s the mailman, the UPS driver, kids, and neighbors?

Milton attends three City Council meetings in a matter of days. Or there are a few other timelines that don’t add up, but so what!

“Jules” is pure fantasy and meant to be that way.