It Came from the Sky

Wow! I can't believe I could ever be bored enough to sit through this picture in it's entirety. Nearly every line of dialogue seemed to drop on the floor, as this picture seemed to be trying to emulate the quirky charm of a small independent film,

but it was more like torture. I'm afraid I've stunted my development by making it half way !

While there might have been a redeeming ending, had I been able to suffer through it . . . . . I couldn't, with the lame dialogue, hugely awkward silences, and complete lack of flow to it. The supposedly romantic "How (Lloyd) & (Bleeth) Met" story was stupendously bad. I couldn't begin to find Lloyd or Bleeth right for their parts. A talented director might be able to decide whether this was supposed to be funny, or sad, or dramatic . . . but to me it was just AWKWARD drivel.

• This may be the worst TV movie I've ever seen. . . . what were they thinking ?

Absolute touching and worthwhile gem. For a TV movie as well, an enormous credit to all concerned. If you can't SEE that...and predictably - many of you saw no more than an "average, boring, run of the mill tale with has-been actors".....then its pitiful. Emotions run deep here and you need to submerge your thoughts and perceptions below that which your visuals dictate.

With strong elements of PHENOMENON, PALE RIDER, SIGNS but most tellingly - WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? in its wake, this is an ultimately feel-good fantasy for the thinking adult. Whoever sees in Ritter a dislikeable person here, sees NOTHING, any more than Bleeth is actively portraying a brain-dead bimbo. Arguably Christopher Lloyd's best role, the brilliance of the film lies in its script...IF you're listening...if you know what the hell you're listening TO that is! Did two strangers crash their plane into the roof and make a big hole? yes they did...now why IS that?

Kevin Zegers is nothing short of awesome in his role as the seemingly autistic young son with a predilection for the alien tongue. While with less screen time, his performance blows HAYLEY JOEL OSMONT out of the water here. JoBeth Williams is just dynamite too as his incredibly supportative and loving mother.

In the same way that the equally script-driven COHEN AND TATE was such a great film, tha "action" rarely moving beyond the confines of an automobile, IT CAME FROM THE SKY succeeds despite the entire film taking place in the one house (to repeat...as per VIRGINIA WOOLF)

That leaves the wondrous ending....lets not talk about it!

I really enjoyed this movie! Christopher Lloyd and Yasmine Bleeth were perfect together. John Ritter and JoBeth Williams were so good together as the couple who were about to break up. My heart was breaking for them. I think that Kevin Zegers is the only one who could have played this part so well. Great story of a troubled family and the strange house-guests who drop in on them and help them rekindle their romance and zest for life. Very well filmed and directed. I kind of got lost at the very end. I am not sure if the strange house-guests were aliens or not. There were a lot of unanswered questions. But all in all it was a great movie. It looked like this could be a pilot for a weekly series with Christopher Lloyd and Yasmine Bleeth mysteriously showing up and helping folks in trouble. See it if you get a chance. A beautiful picture!

At times, 'It Came From the Sky' is little more than standard, movie-of-the-week fare, jam packed with tedious scenes and bad dialogue. But there are moments where it seems to break free of that mold, to expand beyond the territory usually covered in TV movies, which is why I am giving this movie a 7/10.

The cast, comprised mainly of fading stars whose better years are far behind them. Yasmine Bleeth, of TV's 'Baywatch' is in a role made for her as a sexy but dim witted girlfriend of a man four times her age, a rich oil tycoon played by Christopher Lloyd. John Ritter fares the worst, making his character completely unlikeable, and the scenes centering around him are easily the film's worst. Kevin Zegers, as the film's protagonist, is possibly the brightest part of a dull film. JoBeth Williams also manages to rise above the weak screenplay and create a genuinely interesting character, and one wonders why she was ever attracted to John Ritter in the first place.

I have to get back to Bleeth for a second here. She is so unimaginably entertaining in her role, it's hard to believe that she isn't more of a star. That isn't to say that she's a good actress, as she obviously isn't, but her screen presence is enormous, and she has fun with the character.

I've noticed that many of the reviews here seem to be written by teenage girls who have a crush on Zegers. If that's all they could get from his character, or the film in general, then it's too bad. Prior to this, the only film I'd seen him in was the entertaining, if shallow, horror flick 'Shadowbuilder', and I was blown away by his performance here. Along with Haley Joel Osment of The Sixth Sense, he's easily one of the most talented actors of his generation, and I'm surprised he doesn't get more roles other than tepid family films like 'Air Bud' (I haven't actually seen that movie, I'm going on purely critical response here).

I'm not going to waste your time talking about either Ritter or Lloyd's characters, as they were horrible and average, respectively, nothing worth noting. However, I was impressed by JoBeth Williams, who's been unfairly reduced to films such as this from hits such as 'The Big Chill' and 'Poltergeist' earlier in her career. Not only is her chemistry with both Bleeth and Zegers superb, but her character is probably the deepest in the film, and has a hard to describe commanding presence.

Well, I'm low on time so I'll wrap it up quickly. The production values rarely rise above the norm for TV movies, and most of the film is a bore, though the ending is amazing. If you do rent the movie and are tempted to turn it off part way through, don't... stay around for the absolutely chilling finale.

7/10 (I know, I'm being generous, but the film does have a lot of good points)

This is a charming little film. It isn't full of special FX or big action scenes. It's a sweet fairy tale about an emotionally disturbed boy who mysteriously summons a couple of cookie "saints" to help save his parents' shakey marriage and to help bring him out of his own fear.

The cast conveys the charm hidden beneath the surface of the story, and the story itself is touching. See it if you get a chance.