THE MAN FROM EARTH Comes Home

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'The Man From Earth: Special Edition' on Blogcritics.

Ten years ago, The Man From Earth was released to the world. Not in theatres; the low-budget, indie film went straight to DVD. But with an excellent cast and cred for the writer, the movie went on to critical acclaim. It scored nominations, awards, and topped the list of Best Films in its genre. It was also, unfortunately, heavily pirated. Now, with an impending sequel, the original gets a remastered Special Edition release.

The Story

The story is a great thought experiment. Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith, CSI: Miami) is packing up to leave town unexpectedly. A group of his colleagues insist on having a going-away party. When he slips out, they follow him and demand an explanation for his attempted disappearance. John tells them he’s actually a 14,000-year-old caveman who moves along every ten years before people notice that he doesn’t age. Of course, no one believes him. But the more they try to poke holes in his story, while he can’t prove what he’s saying is true, they fail to disprove it, either.

The Man From Earth plays very much like a play. Almost all the action is on one set, taking place in a single day. The ensemble by and large all stay on camera for the duration, making it a dialogue-heavy conversation piece. There isn’t any action, per se, just an intense examination of the claim and the ramifications of such a thing, exploring both the practical and the historical. Given that the characters are college professors, the conversation is high-brow and intelligent, covering a wide variety of angles.

Sci-Fi Cred

This is about what one might expect from writer Jerome Bixby, who literally finished this story on his death bed. Jerome is best known for “It’s a Good Life,” a short story that was turned into a seminal episode of The Twilight Zone, and for writing multiple episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, most notably “Mirror, Mirror.” (Another Star Trek episode he wrote, “Requiem for Methuselah,” has parallels to this tale.)

The ensemble cast also has plenty of Star Trek cred in it. Among them are John Billingsley (a lead in Star Trek: Enterprise), Tony Todd (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and Star Trek: Voyager), and Richard Riehle (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise). Rounding out the cast are Ellen Crawford (ER), Annika Peterson (Tanner Hall), Alexis Thorpe (Days of Our Lives), and William Katt (Carrie). While not a highly recognizable troupe, these are all working actors who do a good job.

Ten Years Later

The Man From Earth holds up very well as a story. The plot is engrossing, the actors are natural, and there are enough surprises to make it worth it to pay attention. While it doesn’t answer every question that could be posed, it covers a lot of ground, and Bixby did a great job trying to anticipate what viewers would ask. I’m glad it’s getting a re-release to bring more attention to it.

But despite the expense spent on upgrading the film to HD (which it was not filmed in), I’m not sure the job was good enough to justify it. Sure, the original quality is soft and a bit blurry, but the new version is harsh and grainy. Watching the side-by-side comparison in the Blu-ray special features, I personally appreciated the original better. I’m not saying The Man From Earth couldn’t be made to look higher-quality, but I don’t think this release does it.

Extras

There are a wealth of bonus features on the Blu-ray. We get trailers for both the original movie and the upcoming sequel. There are two audio commentaries to choose from. There’s a very entertaining, very short film called “Contagion.” A few featurettes are interesting.

I am loathe to complain about a behind-the-scenes feature, as most are too short for my taste, but the one here is actually too long. Perhaps it would be better split into chunks, as it runs roughly the same length as the film. But I’m not sure that would help much, as there are a lot of unnecessary conversation in it. It’s cool to hear most of the cast, Bixby’s son, a producer, and director Richard Schenkman talk about the unique filming process and the piracy issues. However, there’s repetition and tangents that make it drag on. So for once, I have to say this one could use some editing down.

Conclusion

This is a great film, and I’m very glad to get to see it. It feels indie and low-budget, but that might be a plus for this particular story. The extras, despite my minor complaint that the main one could use some editing down, are plenty and mostly enjoyable. I recommend Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth, available now.

"Chuck Versus the Baby" emotional highpoint

     This week's installment of NBC's Chuck, "Chuck Versus the Baby," finds Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) reverting back to her old habits, trying to handle a situation alone, and in secret. Chuck (Zachary Levi) does his best to be understanding, but when his intervention saves Sarah's life, she realizes that she's been wrong. Together, they set off to save Sarah's mother (Cheryl Ladd, Las Vegas, Charlie's Angels) from a very bad, ex-CIA creep (Tim DeKay, White Collar).

     The final season of Chuck has been phenomenal, even though this reviewer has not managed to write up an article each week. "Chuck Versus the Baby," however, will stand out even among the excellent grouping. It really delves into how Sarah has changed, and how her life has been enriched by being with Chuck. She was willing to give up everything for her job, once upon a time. Now she has friends and family, and her life is facing a crossroads. Her decisions to let Chuck in, as well as turning down Beckman's (Bonita Friedericy) offer to rejoin the CIA, are a big step for her, signaling that she is happy with the way things have progressed, and prefers a fuller life. It's heart-warming, and Sarah realizing her wrongness completes a wonderful, long-term arc. Plus, it isn't like she looks weaker than Chuck overall, because as Morgan (Joshua Gomez) says, she's usually right when they disagree. A small part for deceased CIA Director Graham (Tony Todd), tying the current arc into the series pilot, is also a welcome bridge.

     Just one question: is Sarah's hair in the flashback an intentional homage to Ladd's days as an Angel?

     Even better is introducing Sarah's mother to the group, and the character will have to return at least once more. Chuck is very heavily about the titular character's family, but thus far Sarah's only relation is a con man. With the introduction of Ladd's mother, Sarah now has a similar connection. It's also sweet for Sarah's mother, who worries about her daughter ever getting a real life with people to care about. A short amount of time spent near Chuck and Sarah's extended family reassured her that Sarah is well taken care of and happy. If tears are not in your eyes at this point in watching the episode, then you have no human emotions.

     Elsewhere in the episode, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) intercede to try to repair things between Morgan (Joshua Gomez) and Alex (Mekenna Melvin). It leads to a fun little back story of Awesome's time as an A&F model, but more importantly, it wakes Alex up to the fact that Morgan is a good guy who made a mistake. Why she can't understand how his brain gets messed up by a computer is hard to understand, but it's forgiven when they reunite after she sees Morgan being caring towards Sarah's little sister. It's about time!

     Of course, not all of "Chuck Versus the Baby" is sappy, emotional stuff, as not every Chuck fan cares about those things. Some just want the action. DeKay's villain, so different from his USA Network good guy, delights. He is deliciously evil, well acted, and has a heck of a fight scene with Sarah in her mother's kitchen, as unrealistic as their fall through the wall may be. It adds adrenaline to the episode, and gives it an extra shove.

     The complaints about "Chuck Versus the Baby" pretty much boil down to the trailer NBC aired last week. The preview made it seem like Sarah had a secret child that she hid, which would have been a low down, dirty, ridiculous contrivance tossed in at the last moment. Instead, this week's entry is sweet, awesome, clever, and original. NBC made a huge mistake when putting together that commercial, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

     Chuck's (unfortunately) final season continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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