The Man from Earth

Running Time: 89 minutes.
Media: Video file.

This is not my ordinary kind of movie I would normally sink my teeth into... I saw it some five or so years ago around the time it first came out... I have to admit it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it does come across as a fairly intellectual kind of film in places...

Jerome Bixby, who died before this movie was released, started writing the screenplay back in the 60's, but finally finished it off on his death-bed in 1998. I know, a bit gruesome, but hey, that's the way it happened... His son, Emerson Bixby took the screenplay and decided to work on making it into a movie. The results are actually quite surprising.

Bixby (Junior) has taken a not-so-well known cast, inclusive of the title character, played by a relatively unknown David Lee Smith... If you have seen Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood you may have recognized him as the actor who played the young Shep Walker. Other cast include Tony Todd, who has played many very morbid characters in a number of horror based films as well as CIA Director Grahamin the TV series Chuck, John Billingsley, who played the character of Doctor Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise and William Katt, who's real claim to fame was playing history teacher turned superhero Ralph Hinkley/Hanley (I could never understand why they changed the surname?) in The Greatest American Hero.

The movie pretty much occurs mostly at the home of John Oldman, a university professor, who admits to his friends he is leaving behind that he is a Cro-Magnon who has managed to survive for over 14,000 years. The plot revolves his friends trying to determine Oldman's sanity by throwing questions about his memories and general history and the possibilities of his claim being true.

There is a bit of a twist, and I will say nothing save that some people of a strong religious constitution may take offense to it. I will leave it to those willing to take a chance on the movie. The storyline is well thought and written out... even though at times the quality of the acting sometimes takes a temporary and relatively short down turn before starting back up again... I have given The Man from Earth four stars and I fele I should move on and hurry as I have two more reviews to make!

I know, I know... I've been slack... it's been almost two months since my last review... February and March have been relatively busy for me... so I hope to be back on track with more reviews in the days and weeks to come, inclusive of a mini-marathon of movies some time in April/May!