Anyone ever seen this indie film? It's based on a story by the late Jerome
Bixby. Bixby wrote a handful of episodes for the original Trek series, the
screenplay for the movie "Fantastic Voyage", and the famous "Twilight Zone"
episodes "It's a Good Life" and its years-later sequel, "It's Still a Good
Life". I've heard a smattering of really good reviews about this movie over
the last couple of years that make me want to chase it down. Always a good find
to discover a truly original scifi flick, you know? The film stars John
Billingsley (Phlox on "Enterprise"), Tony Todd ("Candy Man", several Star Trek
eps), and William "The Greatest American Hero" Katt.
Anyone see it?
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http://latefilm.com/jerome-bixbys-the-man-from-earth-trailer
http://latemag.com/is-jerome-bixbys-the-man-from-earth-this-years-sleeper-hit
In amongst the myriad of DVDs on my desk was a screener from Starz for "Jerome
Bixby's The Man from Earth". It sat there for a while amongst the others not
particularly standing out, then on a whim I watched it last night. When it
started it seemed like general low budget independent stuff and I figured it
might be somewhere between poor or OK. How ever by the end of the movie I was
exceedingly surprised.
I have a feeling that this story was the now sadly deceased Jerome Bixby's (
Fantastic Voyage ) magnum opus. Director Richard Schenkman's film is very
minimalist, really its not much more than a play filmed on location, which at
first I thought was a bit of a shame, but actually maybe that was just the
right way to do it, take a step back and let the late Bixby weave his
storytelling magic.
This really has a chance of being the single best piece of screenwriting you
will see on a screen large or small this year (really!). Which with the writers
on strike in Hollywood should remind people just how important good writers
really are.
I know Independent, low budget film can be a bit jarring to a lot of viewers,
but as this story unfolds you will forget that this was shot in just eight days
I promise. Yes it is a bit of a shame Schenkman and the cast which includes
Tony Todd (Candyman), David Lee Smith (CSI: Miami's "IAB Sergeant Rick
Stetler") and John Billingsley (Enterprise's "Dr. Phlox") did not have the time
and budget to polish this more, but a diamond in the ruff is still a diamond
and this little film certainly sparkles.
After watching this I went in search of reviews and only found a few, but then
I started to notice the feedback of everyday viewers on Amazon , The IMDB and
such places and for the vast majority the word " Excellent " is being thrown
around. Word of mouth could really push this film, I know the person I saw it
with would not shut up about it. I think Starz should keep an eye on the
feedback and maybe up the marketing budget for this because they really could
have this years independent smash on their hands.
8 People, 1 room and a thought inducing tale about a man who has (maybe) walked
the earth for 14,000 years make this the little film that could.
