The Man from Earth (2007)

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  November 12, 2011

  stuartb1234

  Nice idea but did feel too similar to K-PAX (which was so much better) and really should have been nothing more than a Twilight Zone episode. Some of the acting is very questionable too and the ending was signposted a mile away

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  March 2, 2011

  gokhale1

  There are some films with premises that make me go "How the hell did they come up with something like this!"!
  
  That is in a very positive sense of course...I am talking about concepts that are so refreshingly unique that they are certain to make you sit up and take notice the m... read moreoment you even read one line of the plot summary. Written by Jerome Bixby (his last screenplay) and directed by Richard Schenkman, the 2007 film "The Man from Earth" is one such film. The 'Science Fiction' tag is not entirely appropriate for this film, however...it is more of 'theology fused with science' kind of a story.
  
  John Oldman (David Lee Smith) is a teacher in a school and is now quitting his job and moving elsewhere. Just as he is packing up and putting his stuff in a truck, some of his colleagues show up to treat him to a surprise farewell party. John is reluctant to reveal any details as to where he is moving to and more specifically "Why". Upon being coaxed by his colleagues he reluctantly makes a startling revelation that he is in fact a "prehistoric caveman" from the Upper Paleolithic who has survived for more than several thousand years! He has to keep moving after a span of a few years at a single place, because some people soon start observing the fact that he never ages!
  
  Obviously dumbfounded, the colleagues just laugh his story off and don't believe him. But just to humour him, they start asking him questions which he promptly answers....these harmless questions soon turn into very serious conversation in which John presents some extremely convincing arguments to support his claim! But of course, it is only human, cynical or not, to rubbish such an unbelievably tall story! The group discussion soon turns somewhat sour when religion creeps in and John's colleagues don't think it is funny anymore.......So is John really what he says he is? Or is he some delusional man living in his fantasy world and in serious need of medical attention??
  
  We keep asking ourselves this question throughout the crisp 80 minutes-something length of the film. "The Man from Earth" was made on a shoestring budget of $200,000, so expect some low-budget characteristics, and not your conventional special effects ridden sci-fi film! As a matter of fact, the entire movie almost takes place in the living room of John's house and is solely comprised of the dialog between the characters. There are no other locations, no flashback scenes, almost no place for a scene that looks anything different from a simple conversation between characters! But then that is one of the strongest features of this film. The arguments and counter-arguments are the only means of plot progression and that has in fact been pulled off quite commendably! While not all the characters are all that interesting, they include learned people from almost all areas, including a biologist, a professor (who also happens to be a devout Christian), a psychologist, an archaeologist, and a historian, thus paving the way for arguments from various departments! The discussion is enlightening as well as thought-provoking on many levels. Of course, you have to keep paying attention as things do tend to get quite verbose over time. And indeed, this is more of an aural experience rather than a visual one.
  
  The acting isn't all that good except for a couple of decent performances. The actors are mostly unknown, apart from perhaps Tony Todd (decent), Richard Riehle (pretty good) and John Billingsley (extremely annoying!).
  
  Richard Schenkman, a relatively unknown name in directing (credited for directing some Playboy videos and mediocre films earlier) does a pretty good job of directing a film with a subject like this which can turn into a tedious affair if not deftly handled.
  
  "The Man from Earth" does suffer from some technical glitches, though. Like in one scene, the background score builds to a crescendo so loud, it almost drowns out the dialog! There are a few minor hiccups like this here and there, but none that can overshadow the overall intelligent content of the story. If a blended malt of theology, philosophy and science is something that interests you, then look no further!

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  December 23, 2010

  imrealgod

  I'd nothing else worthwhile to do, so I went for this flick. Generally, I don't like movies that includes only conversations for most of its part. However, I found this one kinda unique & was interested in the conversations till the very end. It was a quite offbeat, but I liked i... read moret reasonably.
  
  All the actors were new to me, but everyone played their part well (after all, there was not much scope for acting since majority of the movie comprised of conversations).

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  November 8, 2010

  Tomassgringo

  This movie was fun just because it was of its uniqueness. It is a simple movie filmed at 1 location and relies only on the story... no special effects, CGI or stunt men, it is just a story the viewer gets to sit in on. I feel more cerebral watching it!! lol Interesting points... read more made and taken from the conversation.

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  February 24, 2010

  dhetteix

  Continually bordering on brilliant, and brought down by a lack of cinematography, production skill, and a rather overpowering mid-movie twist that simply spills

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  November 5, 2009

  pier007

  I have complained many times before about unnecesary over stylization, but here the case is quite the contrary, as happens with that sensationalistic and pseudo intellectual dogma movement, there is nothing interesting in its mise en scene, no storytelling skill whatsoever displa... read moreyed, so the story rather than being fully exploited becomes a mere recorded play with pitiful production values.
  
  The story had potential though it wasn't that great either. It feels stagy and shallow, as well as the performances, especially that from the lead actor.
  When you have something happening in a very limited space, you better do like Hitchcock in "rope" or Polanski in say "death and the maiden" and start leaving your mark on every shot, make it as intense and engaging as they did, 'cause if you don't you'll have a weak attempt of a feature film, tacky and dull, rather than making a convincing contribution to the annals of the "housebound" subgenre.

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  August 30, 2009

  superclerk25

  An interesting movie that I think would work better in novel form than on the screen. It's a lot of talking and while the cast does a good job it tends to get a little slow at points. I started to lose interest in the story when it moved into a much bigger plot of how the chara... read morecter deals with religion and his role in Christianity. I feel it was a better story when he was just a man who wasn't dealing in world changing matters.
  The end was good but due to the low budget of the flick it seemed rushed and small. It was shot too dark and in a small space that started to get to me as the movie went on.
  A good watch but I wouldn't rush out to tell people that they had to watch it.

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  September 14, 2008

  kiriyamakazou

  Interesting and infuriating in equal measure. Has a wonderful one room scenario but spoils it with cinematography that looks like it comes from some cheap television show and a score that sounds like it was used in a charity advert. On top of that the majority of performances can... read morenot handle their dialogue and as such come off as simplistic arrogant arses. Tony Todd being a very fine acception, he's almost a person as opposed to an ideal. The film treats its audience as idiots, spelling everything out in plain and simple terms. Don't really care for anything or anyone in this film apart from the situation itself, what if a man DID claim to be 14,000 years old? Well it could certainly be a lot more realistic than this. Glad I don't know anyone who talks like this, I'd probably stab them in their eyelids. Would have been a lot better with some actual narrative. How does a man continuously reinvent himself? Delve a little deeper instead of going all high concept with "I was Jesus" rubbish and oh wait, yeah here's a perfectly emotionless and almost comical twist for you. Has the subtlety of a terrorist attack.

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  April 7, 2008

  CloudStrife84

  This movie was not quite what I had first expected. Altough it falls within the realm of sci-fi, it wasn't exactly the kind of movie I'm used to getting. For one thing, it didn't have as much as a single action scene, and the whole movie played out in one single room, with the di... read morealogue being the only factor to drive the plot forward. Therefore, it was not without misgivings that I sat down and watched this.
  
  To my great surprise, however, it was actually a quite intriguing and unique experience. The conversations between the characters were good and fascinating enough for the movie to work, and altough it felt more like a lecture than a movie, it did present a lot of food for thought. So if you take it for what it is, it's actually fairly enjoyable, even though I always prefer some good action over 90 minutes of pure dialogue.

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  March 24, 2010

  gator681

  In "The Man from Earth," Professor John Oldman(David Lee Smith) is quitting after ten years teaching at a university. For him, it is time to move on but his friends at work are not about to let him go without a proper farewell. As the booze is passed around, John makes a rather... read more surprising confession. He is in fact much older than he looks, about 14,000 years actually. Well, Edith(Ellen Crawford) did say that he did not seem to age and there is that Van Gogh painting. Art(William Katt) certainly thinks it is time to call in Dr. Gruber(Richard Riehle), a psychiatrist.
  
  What "The Man from Earth" seeks to do is to challenge the worldview of the viewer, but it is nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is. What is seriously lacking here is any kind of internal logic. While in a movie, anything may be possible, it is much harder to credibly convince a character that the impossible is now possible. In "Doctor Who," it is not until the characters see that the TARDIS is larger on the inside and badly in need of a cleaning that they are truly amazed. While some of the characters in "The Man from Earth" are clearly skeptical of John's story, they all take him seriously and listen to what he has to say, instead of rolling on the floor laughing. And what did John tell them about his past in the previous ten years? I know he desperately wanted to come clean to people he loves and trusts, in a time when science finally trumps ignorance and pitchforks. In a genre replete with immortals(I watched this before "Lost" last night), the movie adds nothing new or interesting, except for the name dropping which while annoying(So, you knew Van Gogh and Christopher Columbus. Big deal.), leads the movie in a provocative direction. However, that is still not enough to overcome its limited staging and wooden acting by its lead actor.

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• David Lee Smith as Professor John Oldman
• Richard Riehle as Gruber
• John Billingsley as Harry
• William Katt as Art
• Tony Todd as Dan
• Alexis Thorpe as Linda
• Ellen Crawford as Edith
• Annika Peterson as Sandy

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  The Scientist (98%)
• 
  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (62%)
• 
  K-PAX (85%)
• 
  The Apostle (50%)

• • Harry: Edith, I was raised on the Torah, my wife on the Qu'Ran, my eldest son is an Atheist, my youngest is a scientologist, my daughter is studying Hinduism, I imagine there is room there for a holy war in my living room, but we practice live and let live.
• • Dan: I'm going home and watch Star Trek for a dose of sanity.

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