The Man Who Fell To Earth Review: A Timely And Fresh Adaptation Of A Sci-Fi Classic [SXSW]

https://www.slashfilm.com/798798/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-review-a-timely-and-fresh-adaptation-of-a-sci-fi-classic-sxsw/

Based on Walter Tevis' 1963 novel, "The Man Who Fell to Earth" follows an alien that arrives in America to save his species from the death of his distant planet, only to encounter more difficulties than he first expected.

The first thing you should know about the new adaptation of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" is that showrunners Alex Kurtzman ("Fringe") and Jenny Lumet ("Clarice") drastically change the tone of the story, and make one very interesting change to the overall framing. For one thing, the premiere starts in medias res, with Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as a tech mogul who openly speaks about being extraterrestrial to a stadium full of avid fans — a big departure from the bleak, alcoholic version of the source material. The second change is that the show is way funnier and more cheerful than you'd first expect, at least in the two episodes that premiered at SXSW.

Indeed, the show initially presents itself as more of a fish out of water story than anything else, taking its sweet time to explore all the comedic implications of an alien learning the ways of humans. Ejiofor is constantly desperate to fill his body with water because he says he has four stomachs (when we first meet his human form, he has four feet of a water hose just shover down his throat). He also keeps shouting obscenities at people because he heard someone say that shouting a command and saying the F word a lot can get you whatever you want. There are plenty of miscommunications and jokes about the character not understanding human customs, or the extreme priorities he has — expect a lot of uncomfortable moments where Ejiofor tells old people to just die already and stop wasting resources. This makes for a brisk and fun couple of episodes, even if the premise is something we've seen before.

This could grow tiresome very quickly, but Ejiofor manages to balance the silliness of Faraday's actions with genuine wide-eyed wonder about humanity, and also a sense of sadness for the imminent death of his species.

Another: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/03/man-who-fell-to-earth-review-showtime-tv-show-chiwetel-ejiofor-1234707203/