During a town hall meeting in which Milton (Ben Kingsley), again, seeks to rework the town slogan and petition for a new crosswalk, he adds a new item of concern to his well-rehearsed list of grievances; an alien spaceship crashed into his back yard, crushing his azaleas.  The revelation causes nervous laughter across those present at the meeting, but when two of his neighbors, Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin), check in on him, they are shocked to see a little alien (Jade Quon) sitting on his couch and eating apples.   

Jules is a quirky comedy from director Marc Turtletaub working from a Gavin Steckler script.  Opening the Sonoma International Film Festival where it received the Stolman Audience Award ahead of its Bleeker Street theatrical release, this 87-minute film goes down smoothly with plenty of sweet moments, but the humor has some barbs to it as well that are a real cause for surprise.   

Kingsley leads the film with a jovial presence as an older, retired, widower thrilled at the prospect of having someone around the house given his strained relationship with his two children, Denise (Zoe Winters) and Tim (Eric T. Miller), the latter of whom we only ever hear in a voice mail greeting.  Jules, in this way, is very much like a fable in that it dresses up these major themes – the physical and mental well-being of the elderly and the effects that the often-experienced isolation can have on them – in a cute, candied shell so as not to scare off audiences with deep and dour discussion.  Kingsley walks the line between the sweet and the serious with great acuity and deepens the emotional gradient of the film immensely.  There is fear, anger, and sadness inside of him that all have their moments to influence and color his actions, but there is also pure joy and elation as he is helping the friendly alien, or when Denise comes to visit. 

Rounding out the cast are Harris and Curtin, two nosey neighbors jealous of one another for Milton’s perceived interest in the other.  It creates an amusing triptych of pettiness back and forth while allowing this group plenty of opportunity to grow and work towards their collective goals.  Both Harris and Curtin bring a feuding energy to the film that helps it through the second act so that the simple concept never feels stale or stretched thin.  Sandy, upon meeting the alien and overcoming her initial fear, begins to open up spilling long-winded monologues about her relationship with her lesbian daughter, with God, and how her business is going.  Joyce, with a bit more of a firecracker past behind her, enters the picture with less clear motivations, but still pure intentions.  As the three of them bicker over what to do about their new alien visitor, of which two out of the three agree to call Jules, Jules makes it clear that he will need to return home. 

It is in this arc that Jules begins to get a little weird and really test its audience as the fuel needed to power Jules’ ship is dead cats.  At once an absurdist swing that fits the wider concept of the film, it is still an unavoidably strange and uncomfortable choice that finds Milton and his pals searching high and low across the neighborhood for dead cats.  It is not particularly gruesome, which is good, but the imagery can still be unsettling and disturbing in an otherwise rather sweet film.  The themes that it covers are all quite heavy, but the visuals evoke a quaint and peaceful little neighborhood.  This specific element seems highly unnecessary and a little more working through of it by Steckler as he was writing would have made this film much easier to recommend as a true contender for a family watch-along.  Despite its stumbling, Jules is still a sweet little exercise and an example of a type of film that wears its heart on its sleeve.  Its good intentions throughout help salve some of the more unsavory machinations of the plot, and the dynamic between Kingsley, Harris, Curtin, and the wordless Quon is nothing short of a delight to watch.