An Irish sci-fi movie is a hard sell: The Boy From Mercury and The Summer Of The Flying Saucer (both Martin Duffy) didn't set the box office alight and Zonad, even though it had John 'Once' Carney calling the shots, failed to attract audiences. Earthbound won't clean up either but those who do venture forth will find it a charming experience.
Twenty-six-year-old Joe (Spall - I Give It A Year, Life of Pi) seems like the typical comic book nerd you find movies: goofy, sans girlfriend and working in a dead-end job. But Joe's not so typical: just before his father (Morrissey) died he divulged a secret - Joe's an alien, the last son of the planet Zalaxon, who has been hiding on earth from the aliens that all but destroyed his home. With the only help coming from a Superman-esque pre-recorded hologram of his father, Joe must find a human female with whom to 'cohabit' to ensure the continuation of his species. Could mousey Maria (Murray) be the one?
Writer-director Alan Brennan makes his debut with a likeable homage to hokey sci-fi serials like Flash Gordon and part of the fun is picking out the old school references Brennan lobs in there. Earthbound likes to mess around with the notion that Joe might be insane and while Brennan's deconstruction of the paranoia-fuelled world Joe has built around him is nice, the bittersweet goodbye to childhood and accepting adult responsibility is what sticks out. Joe's weapons are toys ('disguised' that way of course), his duvet is that of a five-year-old's and it's all really about coming out from under a father's shadow to be your own man. But this is not just a male ailment as even Maria struggles to part with one of her Barbies. It's significant, however, that she does so long before Joe musters up the courage.
Continuity is a bit of an issue - one scene is Dublin in the snow, the next is not, and Maria's feelings for Joe aren't consistent - but the tone is spot on and Spall, with a This Island Earth forehead, is a fun lead who helps you through the less polished scenes.
