Milton is 78. Frugal, forgetful but not yet frail, the character, a retiree played by Ben Kingsley in the gently amusing and ultimately poignant dramedy “Jules,” regularly walks into downtown Boonton in western Pennsylvania (played by Boonton, N.J.) to complain at meetings of the town council: about the need for more crosswalks, or his proposal to change the town’s motto from “A great place to call home” to “A great place to refer to as home.” (The first wording is “confusing.” We get it. The members of the council look upon him with amusement, and so, dear reader, should you.)
In the film by Marc Turtletaub — best known as the producer of the Oscar-nominated “Little Miss Sunshine” but who also directed a little 2018 gem called “Puzzle,” which has the same modest, tender appeal as this film — Milton is a man of bland routine, his life peppered with visits by his grown daughter Denise (Zoë Winters) and not much else. He doesn’t really have any friends, but he is accompanied in his council kvetching by two older women: the sunny Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin), a character who lives with an ancient cat and constantly reminds us about the glory days of her youth in the big city (Pittsburgh).
Their quiet lives change when an alien spaceship crash-lands in Milton’s backyard, which is conveniently remote and protected from nosy neighbors by a tall fence. Milton reports it, but no one pays him any mind, naturally. A day or so later, a little gray man, played by the mime-like Jade Quon as an extraterrestrial Marcel Marceau, emerges from the vessel, naked and injured. Milton nurses him (it? them?) back to health, and agrees to hide the creature after Sandy, then Joyce discover Milton’s secret.
What follows is good for a wry smile or two (or three), but is not entirely unexpected in this sweet but slight fable. Sandy christens the visitor Jules, although Joyce insists that the alien looks more like a Gary, as the three of them debate what to do, all while Jules keeps leaving Milton unexplained drawings and performing repairs on the damaged ship, racing against time as Men in Black from some agency called the National Security Center are homing in on the site. (The biggest joke of the film involves what Jules’s ship needs for fuel. I won’t spoil it, except to say it’s a bit silly. At another point, Sandy becomes ensnared in an elder-abuse scam that turned surprisingly violent, for such a benign little film.)
In truth, “Jules” is not really about alien visitation at all, but a bittersweet if earthbound meditation on aging and regret. Denise, who is increasingly worried about her father’s mental state and his ability to take care of himself, arranges for a visit with a neurologist. Milton tries to reconnect with an estranged son, over the phone, while looking forward to the next few coming years — and the far more numerous ones behind him — with a mix of remorse, affection for who and what is left, and feelings of guilt about the errors that may or may not be able to be undone.
In the end, “Jules” performs a magical if tiny bait-and-switch: It’s less a sci-fi parable — “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” for the AARP demographic — than a fairy tale reminding us that the tribulations of getting old are more natural than sad, and best done in the company of loved ones.
PG-13. At area theaters. Contains strong language and a brief moment involving the threat of violence. 97 minutes.
