North Jersey doubles as Western Pa. in heartwarming UFO pic starring Sir Ben Kingsley

Western Pennsylvania has long been a hotbed for UFO sightings and other weird phenomenon. Bigfoot is big out there. Some think the tall, hairy beast is an alien himself.

Director Marc Turtletaub said it’s serendipity that his new film Jules, ostensibly a UFO-landing film, is set in a fictional Western Pa. town called Boonton. (The movie was filmed in Boonton, N.J.). But in an era where blockbusters and explosions seem to elbow small films out of the theaters, Turtletaub will take all the coincidences he can while touting his own picture, a quiet dramedy that relies on dialogue rather than digital effects.

“I went to college in Philadelphia and my roommates were from all over Western Pennsylvania, places like Pittsburgh and Altoona, and I liked that part of the world,” he said. “I just discovered that a lot of people see UFOs in that part of the world. But it’s interesting because I made the movie and now all of a sudden we have these hearings in Congress and it’s in everyone’s mind. I wish I could say I planned all that.”

The movie, based on an original screenplay, is not your typical UFO fare, but rather uses an alien landing to explore issues of aging, loneliness, and connection. Ben Kingsley, an Academy Award winner for playing Mahatma Gandhi in 1983, stars as Milton, an aging retiree, emotionally disconnected from his children who spends his days watching television and repeating himself at local meetings.

Then an alien lands in his backyard and Milton comes back to life, in a sense, as he tries to help it return home.

“That’s what attracted me to it,” Turtletaub said. “The alien is a catalyst. It’s like a creature that has no voice that allows other people to find their voice and when they can find their voice, they can find connection. That’s really the heart of the movie.”

Turtletaub, who directed the 2018 film Puzzle and produced 2006′s Little Miss Sunshine, said he hopes his audience takes away a few things from the film.

“Mostly, how important it is to be a great listener,” he said.

“We’re not just going to be in New York or L.A,” he said. “It’s going to be on 800 screens this weekend and hopefully growing from there. A great story, well told, can still grab an audience.”

“Jules,” which has an 86 rating on Rotten Tomatoes, opens nationally on Friday and can be seen at AMC 24 in Cherry, AMC 16 in Voorhees, and the AMC 24 in Neshaminy.