A flying saucer lands in the backyard of an elderly suburbanite with memory problems, who forms a bond with the scared alien inside.
- Released:
- Runtime: 90 minutes
- Genre: Comedy
- Stars: Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Jane Curtin, Zoe Winters, Donald Paul, Anna George, Lee Sellars, Teddy Cañez, Eric T. Miller, Cody Kostro, Jeff Kim, Jade Quon, Patrick Noonan, David Carl, Laura Jordan, Blair Baker, Christopher Kelly
- Director: Marc Turtletaub
Comments
- lisab61367 - 19 April 2024
Ridiculous. Don't waste your time.
Far fetched tale with multiple interwoven side plots that add up to nothing. Poorly developed characters. Unexplainable incidents. A diet consisting only of apples and a search for dead cats??? What 3rd grader wrote this! It's a shame to see three top notch actors playing such ridiculous roles. Jane Curtin destroys the song "Free Bird" while some mystery character's head explodes at another location. I felt like there was supposed to be some comedy, but it failed miserably. I wish I could find more positive things to say about this movie, unfortunately, there is not. I felt it was a complete waste of time watching it. - Tundrorock - 25 January 2024
Valentine Michael Smith
When water was offered It occurred to me I've seen, or read, something similar. It reminded me of the beginning of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. A quaint story about aging, stereotypes, family, and friendship. When the alien arrives, the mundane daily routine is broken and the elderly main character tells the town the truth about what's happened. The town's reaction is stereotypical, resembling something of the sort 'ok, his mental capacity has faded' and he is not to be believed. The alien, despite having no personality whatsoever, is quite likable due to his passive demeanor and puppy eyed appearance. There are underlying subplots related to family and friendship that play out well, as they care for their new extra terrestrial friend. Enjoyable, but a bit content light and doesn't have the depth to provoke long term retrospection. I hope that's fair. Definitely worth watching. - Taco_Sanchez - 26 December 2023
A distasteful plot element ruins an otherwise sweet and charming movie
I'm just going to say right off that whether it was the writer or director that made it, the choice to have the alien spacecraft fueled by dead cats was in poor taste and pretty much ruined my enjoyment of the movie. Yes, I understand that the plot involved Jane Curtain's compassionate sacrifice of her long-term feline companion....but there were also jokes about "fractions" of other animals.
It's very sad that the writing and/or director made this choice, because they otherwise put out a very touching story. The acting of Curtain, Kingsley and especially Harriet Harris (Bebe from Frasier) was top notch. The humor was well timed. The characters were relatable as you saw how each dealt with getting old in their own way. They also had to deal with the way society treated their aging.
I'd probably score this movie a 9 out of 10 without the poor plot element, because it was that good otherwise. I would have recommended it to my 75 year old mother among others. I'd have watched it again myself. But I can't. I actually feel like a lot of folks in the target audience like myself won't like that part of it. On the other hand, folks that totally aren't bothered by the "cats as fuel" aren't likely to enjoy the rest of the movie.
