Watch The Man Who Fell to Earth For Free

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Sorry, this movie sucks

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

As a Bowie (and SF) fan I had high expectations for this movie. I also read the novel, although I did not find it particularly memorable or inspiring, but hoped for an interesting on screen development. Unfortunately, I found it disappointing many years ago, as I did yesterday evening, when the movie was broadcast by BBC Two, to commemorate what would have been Bowie's 70 birthday.The non-linear plot follows Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien dropped to earth to find water for his dying planet. Despite his superior scientific knowledge, Newton get corrupted by our bad earthlings way and his plan derails miserably.Among the many problems of the film, the biggest for me were: the poor development of the "alien" planet, of which we see only four inhabitants (Newton and his family); the narrative, which is a series of disconnected scenes following the slow deterioration of the Newton character and the annoying jumps in time. All the main characters grow older within 40 minutes, while Newton does not age a minute. This could be because he is an alien, but it certainly does not help to connect with what goes on.Besides, there is plenty of useless nudity and sex scenes. One of the main characters is a horny professor who sleeps around with his students. We get him canoodling with three different girls for no other reason than showing more of the same, when his character was well defined by the first sexual encounter. It is a very "cold" movie and I felt completely disconnected. Bowie conveyed alienation in an almost perfect way, but it is up to the viewer to decide if it is because of his acting skills or to the fact that he was going through the weirdest period of his life and was probably just being himself. Also, rumors of problems with Roeg and uneasiness on set might have contributed to the overall weirdness.

Aside from the vaguely intriguing start with Bowie's arrival (it's not clear where he got the clothes, the rings to sell and the British background, or indeed how long he'd been on earth – where did the car and the chauffeur suddenly come from?). This is a long disappointing mess of a film. I tried very hard to get into this and enjoy it but the narrative structure is confusing and disjointed. I think the film just tries to be clever and art-housy but I found it a complete bore and very frustrating to watch – the Emperor's New Clothes you might say. There is absolutely no chemistry or sex appeal between the two main characters. Visually, it's quite stylish, the best part is the first 30 minutes or so with the frailty of the alien character shown and the interesting and amusing idea (from a digital photography age perspective) of self-developing film.

Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth is a bit of a trippy viewing experience full of layered themes of isolation and loneliness excellently portrayed through main star David Bowie's performance to which he later re-counted was the perfect role as to what he was experiencing personally at that time in his life (The Thin White Duke era) . The film aims high in terms of its ideas but doesn't always hit the target, it ends up being a mixed bag.It's a not so complex plot and one we have seen many times before and since, An Alien Thomas Jerome Newton (Bowie) falls into earth in order to gather what he needs (in this case water) to collect and bring it back in order to save his dying planet (Which remains unnamed). We end up with a film that seems to go nowhere further in terms of plot which I think is the intention. Newton after establishing his plan to get what he needs to get back home hooks up with a passive alcoholic named Mary-Lou (Candy Clark) which leads him on a path of alcohol abuse and internal corruption. It is this theme which is the focal point of the movie.There is a rather grainy look to the film with dated effects which only add to the charm of the movie. The soundtrack is odd at times has I nice beat of jazz score at the beginning and moves on to campy soft porn vibe during the also camp love/sex scenes which is off-putting. Nothing From Bowie himself but after listening again to his album Low (which has tracks rejected for the film soundtrack utilized in the album) it inspired me to watch it.It is well acted for the most part although the perfect role in his first outing on the big screen for Bowie, you couldn't think of anyone else possibly playing this part as naturally as he does his elegant and sexual nature really adds to the film. There is also a role for Rip Torn who gives a good performance as a science professor who's life seems to be stale and bored with his sexual exploits with students. Candy Clark is possibly the weakest point in terms of acting although she does a decent job portraying a damaged soul dependent on drink and Newton, it's her more hysterical scenes that get slightly irritating.Roeg goes for an evocative style in terms of his direction it's like he's out to shock with soft porn sex scenes featuring male and female full frontal nudity. The pacing is a bit dis-jointed with some unnecessary and confusing scenes that lead nowhere and at a running time of over 2 hours its slightly overlong. Some of the dialog only adds to the confusion but I think it makes it more intriguing.A role that's made for bowie in a tale of corruption of an innocent mind through drink and an unforgiving environment. It has its ups and downs with plotting and editing all over the place, A strange one that I would certainly watch again it takes you out of your comfort zone in a good way.

How you feel about this movie depends on what you want out of it. I have two disclosures to make: first, I write reviews short and sweet, with the intention of countering those people who give mediocre films 9 stars out of ten because a film speaks to them in some way that it will not speak to others. Second, I am a die-hard Bowiephile.I watched this movie over and over and over again, for the sheer love of David Bowie. That said, I don't think this is a great film. In a few ways, its terrible. Most significantly, the screenplay and direction don't match well enough to make a very coherent or intelligible movie. It feels cheap and disjointed. If you haven't read the book, it will not make much of sense. As for performances, they are hit and miss. Bowie, many say, was exactly in his element doing this film in 75/76 when he was truly an alien living in L.A, wacked out on cocaine and out of touch with real life. How much he really acted was debatable-but if you like Bowie, seeing this film is a must. There are a few great visuals, including the cover shot used for the album LOW. This movie would have been better with a different director in my opinion, but it is what it is. A snapshot in time