Salina Arts Center Cinema
Sir Ben Kingsley has played gangsters, artists, a Marvel movie villain, and Mahatma Gandhi. But strangely enough, it’s his portrayal of Milton Robinson, a lonely widower frittering away his remaining years in a sleepy town in Pennsylvania, which just might be his tour de force.
"Jules" Showtimes
Friday showtimes
6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Saturday showtimes
2:00 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Sunday showtimes
2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
About Jules
Estranged from his son, Milton’s at least on polite, though rather distant, terms with his grown daughter (Zöe Winters). But as he approaches the early stages of Alzheimer’s, Milton’s got little to energize him except for the weekly town hall meetings where he asserts himself with petty grievances. In other words, this is a character familiar to us, a type that’s irritating at times but also rather sad. And Kingsley, with middle-America accent and withdrawn, nervous demeanor, is sublime and totally relatable as a fellow who just wants to be noticed (but not too much). In director Marc Turtletaub’s low-key comedy, Milton gets his wish when an alien crashes in his backyard. Sort of like a version of E.T. for seniors, Milton and two acquaintances, Sandy (Harriett Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin), decide to nurse the injured alien (stuntwoman Jade Quon) back to health while keeping its presence a secret.
Though “Jules” (as two members of the trio dub the creature) never speaks, its silent, fascinated bemusement with our world is engaging and sympathetic. The real joy, though, is to see a sci-fi/comedy driven by older actors, bringing unique emotional insights into issues like aging, mortality, family, and the challenges of making “human” connections. Kingsley, Curtin, and Martin have terrific chemistry and help ground the potential wackiness of the film’s premise, giving Jules genuine sweetness without any saccharin.
(Rated PG-13 for profanity.)
Runtime: 87 Minutes