‘Jules’ is a sweet and sentimental story, with plenty of laughs
Category: Television and Streaming
Jules is a combination of ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Cocoon. It’s a cute story with many sentimental and emotional elements.
Milton (Ben Kingsley) lives alone and hardly has anything to do except garden. He attends every city council meeting to air his grievances – mainly that the town’s motto should be changed and he wants a crosswalk on a busy street. His daughter Denise (Zoe Winters) helps with his bookkeeping and visits when she can. Her brother does not have anything to do with his dad. Denise is getting worried that Milton is getting senile, perhaps too senile to continue living in his house.
One night a spaceship crashes into Milton’s backyard and a little alien gets out, bruised and stunned. Milton helps this little guy. He feeds him and keeps him company, realizing how difficult it must be to be alone in a strange world.
Two fellow seniors, Joyce (Jane Curtin) and Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris), discover Milton’s secret and soon the three of them are best buddies with this little guy they name Jules. Well, one of them names him Jules and the other prefers Gary. But Jules it is.
Jules does not talk. He listens. And he feels. He and his three earthling friends are united, and as he starts to repair his spaceship they all spend their days together. What the trio come to realize is that Jules needs dead cats to repair his ship. Where will they get all those dead cats?
As the three continue to help Jules, the government is on their trail. The officials realize a spaceship has landed somewhere in the vicinity, and as time goes by they pinpoint it to Milton’s location. It is a race against time for the three friends to help Jules repair his ship before he is apprehended by the officials.
The story involves several themes. The main one is that being older and estranged, or partially estranged from family, is no fun. Getting old is no fun. Beginning to lose memory is no fun. The three seniors are very lonely people, but with Jules they find a purpose in their lives. And Jules helps them in many ways. His powers are amazing as he, at one time, helps save Sandy’s life through his thoughts and he helps Joyce’s ailing cat die in peace.
The story takes elements of ET, as Jules is just as well-meaning as ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, because Jules offers to take his new friends with him in his spaceship, and Cocoon, because it shows the wonders that aliens can do for aging and aged seniors.
In the end, Jules sets off for his home alone, but will he return to visit Milton? Spoiler alert: yes.
Jules is rated PG-13 for strong language.
The movie is now available through many streaming platforms.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.
courtesy image