Thomas Newton is a reclusive man who patents several key electronics and photography innovations and becomes hugely rich almost overnight. He then embarks on an ambitious space programme, but who is he really and where is he from ?
This unusual science-fiction drama is highly original and full of interesting ideas and amusing touches but is also a bit long and hard to get into. Its trump card is music legend Bowie as the eponymous hero, who is completely mesmerising. His performance is not necessarily great acting, it's just the aura he exudes. I'm probably not alone in being half convinced that (the real) Bowie actually is an alien, so in many ways this is the perfect role for him. Newton is an intriguing contradiction of mysterious and powerful recluse and sad and ineffectual failure, which is what differentiates this from equivalent sci-fi classics like The Day The Earth Stood Still or Starman. His relationship with Mary-Lou, brilliantly played by Clark, is both fascinating and exasperating, but works well because of the strange chemistry between the two; stick-thin London art-school rock god and curvy Texan good time girl. There are several memorable sex scenes between the two but as time passes and Mary-Lou ages and Newton doesn't the (literally) cosmic gulf between them becomes apparent. Where the film doesn't work so well for me is in the plotting. What exactly was Mr Newton's plan to get home, and how was he going to transport the water there ? How is it that a bunch of doctors are so incompetent they can't tell he's not human (I have three letters for them - DNA) ? What does Rip Torn actually do at any point (other than going to bed with college girls) ? These questions probably didn't interest the filmmakers, so instead there's a bit too much focus on weird details (like Henry's ridiculous glasses) and not enough on Newton's mission. Based on a good novel by Walter Tevis and scripted by Paul Mayersberg, the screenwriter of Bowie's later film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. A great offbeat seventies classic featuring several truly strange and wonderful performances. Cult actress fans should also note the presence (as Casey's wife) of an unbilled Claudia Jennings, Playmate Of The Year in 1970 and star of several minor exploitation treats (such as David Cronenberg's Fast Company).
This unusual science-fiction drama is highly original and full of interesting ideas and amusing touches but is also a bit long and hard to get into. Its trump card is music legend Bowie as the eponymous hero, who is completely mesmerising. His performance is not necessarily great acting, it's just the aura he exudes. I'm probably not alone in being half convinced that (the real) Bowie actually is an alien, so in many ways this is the perfect role for him. Newton is an intriguing contradiction of mysterious and powerful recluse and sad and ineffectual failure, which is what differentiates this from equivalent sci-fi classics like The Day The Earth Stood Still or Starman. His relationship with Mary-Lou, brilliantly played by Clark, is both fascinating and exasperating, but works well because of the strange chemistry between the two; stick-thin London art-school rock god and curvy Texan good time girl. There are several memorable sex scenes between the two but as time passes and Mary-Lou ages and Newton doesn't the (literally) cosmic gulf between them becomes apparent. Where the film doesn't work so well for me is in the plotting. What exactly was Mr Newton's plan to get home, and how was he going to transport the water there ? How is it that a bunch of doctors are so incompetent they can't tell he's not human (I have three letters for them - DNA) ? What does Rip Torn actually do at any point (other than going to bed with college girls) ? These questions probably didn't interest the filmmakers, so instead there's a bit too much focus on weird details (like Henry's ridiculous glasses) and not enough on Newton's mission. Based on a good novel by Walter Tevis and scripted by Paul Mayersberg, the screenwriter of Bowie's later film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. A great offbeat seventies classic featuring several truly strange and wonderful performances. Cult actress fans should also note the presence (as Casey's wife) of an unbilled Claudia Jennings, Playmate Of The Year in 1970 and star of several minor exploitation treats (such as David Cronenberg's Fast Company).