Jules (2023) Film Review
By Nadeem Myireh
Director: Marc Turtletaub
Featuring: Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Jane Curtin, and Jade Quon
Pros: Comedic, Touching, Good Performances, and Impressive Prosthetics
Cons: Shallow, Short Runtime, Bland Soundtrack
Marc Turtletaub’s “Jules”, starring Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Jane Curtin, and Jade Quon as the eponymous Jules, may have premiered two months ago but the Evans Theatre has been kind enough to place it on my radar and I, as a casual filmgoer, was obliged to see it.
Marc Turtletaub’s “Jules” takes a classic film trope – UFOs and extraterrestrials and combines it with the introspection of a subdued character study film, a genre I have lovingly grown to call “slice-of-life drama”. On paper, the premise holds a lot of potential. But the film isn’t nearly as weird as a close encounter with the third kind ought to be and relies on one or two instances of true sci-fi creativity to keep the extraterrestrial visitor engaging. Ben Kingsley stars as Milton Robinson, an aging, isolated man struggling with the early stages of dementia, and he plays the character quite well. Kingsley plays Milton as defensive, but he lets just enough emotion through that you begin to hear the uncertainty in each word. Even though the film does offer a, at times, touching look into how the elderly are left behind by a generation too busy with work and school, its short runtime – at only eighty-seven minutes, doesn’t give the viewer long enough with any character, even the titular Jules, to form a connection to them by the time the film ends. Unfortunately, this and the fairly surface level dialogue leave very little room for the film to have as emotional of an ending as it could have. The casting of Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Jane Curtin works incredibly well, creating a familiar and jovial dynamic between the three as if these strangers have actually been long time friends. And Jade Quon’s silent but approachable portrayal of Jules gives each of the actors their chance to show an open, sensitive side to each of their characters.
With all that being said, the film shines its brightest when it takes the time to let its cast share the screen, as they are the method the film tries to use to get its theme out - that theme being disconnection. At first that may sound like a bit of a stretch, but the entire film is about disconnection on various levels. The disconnection Kingsley’s Milton feels from those closest to him, afraid that his daughter and son are fed up with him, and unable to truly open up to those nearest. As well as the disconnection between himself and the alien, Jules, whom he seems to understand the least out of the elderly trio.
Although “Jules” presents the audience with a handful of interesting premises, it doesn’t give itself the time nor the clarity needed to actually go anywhere with them. Which, after much deliberation, leaves me with little choice but to give the film a four-out-of-ten.