Kyle MacLachlan is the real-life retired USAF Major Jesse Marcel. He was one of the first people to handle the debris from a suspected alien spacecraft crash on a remote field in Roswell, New Mexico. The government then ordered him to shut up. Many years later, at a reunion of his unit, MacLachlan is old and dying of emphysema, and is intent on prying the Truth out of the several others who were involved in collecting and disposing of the mysterious trash.
It's pretty dull going, even for UFOlogists. MacLachlan goes from barbecue to swimming pool to dinners, encountering others, and getting their stories in flashbacks.
The more dubious aspects of the legend -- disappearing participants, living alien corpses, "men in dark suits" -- are accepted with the same eager alacrity as the more credible claims -- the government's throwing all kinds of humdrum explanations against the wall to see if any of them stick, the tendency of agencies to beef up their own importance by classifying information about what they do.
The movie gives you the legend in its full-blown form here, with Michael Sheen showing up as "Townsend", the man who takes MacLachlan aside and spills the beans in their entirety, in a scene that is an anti-climax if there ever was one. The explanation is all hearsay from an anonymous source. MacLachlan must depart the scene still in a state of distress and confusion.
With the exception of some of the supporting players, the acting is perfunctory. The direction is pedestrian. There isn't any real tension and there is no real ending. It all just seems to fade away.
These comments, I ought to emphasize, are about the movie, not about the question of UFOs. I should think that by now, with multiple, credible witnesses, the presence of something inexplicable is indisputable. Oh, maybe not alien space ships but surely something. The alternative belief is that many of our military and commercial pilots, scientists, police officers -- people to whom we entrust our lives -- are crazy. Well, let's throw out 99% of the most reliable sighting. That leaves 1% who are believable. All it takes is one case. Too bad none of the UFOs has been obliging enough to put down on the White House lawn.
It's pretty dull going, even for UFOlogists. MacLachlan goes from barbecue to swimming pool to dinners, encountering others, and getting their stories in flashbacks.
The more dubious aspects of the legend -- disappearing participants, living alien corpses, "men in dark suits" -- are accepted with the same eager alacrity as the more credible claims -- the government's throwing all kinds of humdrum explanations against the wall to see if any of them stick, the tendency of agencies to beef up their own importance by classifying information about what they do.
The movie gives you the legend in its full-blown form here, with Michael Sheen showing up as "Townsend", the man who takes MacLachlan aside and spills the beans in their entirety, in a scene that is an anti-climax if there ever was one. The explanation is all hearsay from an anonymous source. MacLachlan must depart the scene still in a state of distress and confusion.
With the exception of some of the supporting players, the acting is perfunctory. The direction is pedestrian. There isn't any real tension and there is no real ending. It all just seems to fade away.
These comments, I ought to emphasize, are about the movie, not about the question of UFOs. I should think that by now, with multiple, credible witnesses, the presence of something inexplicable is indisputable. Oh, maybe not alien space ships but surely something. The alternative belief is that many of our military and commercial pilots, scientists, police officers -- people to whom we entrust our lives -- are crazy. Well, let's throw out 99% of the most reliable sighting. That leaves 1% who are believable. All it takes is one case. Too bad none of the UFOs has been obliging enough to put down on the White House lawn.