The Man from Earth - Rental Recommendation

Professor John Oldman has announced his retirement from the university, effective immediately. His colleagues, unwilling to accept his sudden departure, follow him to his home where he reluctantly lets them in on a secret. He is 14,000 years old.

Naturally his colleagues; consisting of an archaeologist, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist, a biologist and a Christian literalist; are unwilling to believe his story. He eases them into it, setting it up in the beginning as a science fiction story he is contemplating then progressing into a first person narrative of a man who has lived fourteen centuries, born as a Cromagnon man and then simply not dying.

As the story progresses, his colleagues grow both fascinated and angered by the story, coming to the eventual conclusion that it neither be proven or disproved. Seeing their reactions and regretting what his confession has done to his friends, he takes it all back, revealing it to be a test. He wanted to see how his story of the immortal would be received, and to iron out the kinks through their reactions. As they all prepare to leave, it is a student, who had accompanied one of the professors to the gathering, who locks in on his name: "John Oldman, that's a pun, isn't it?" she asks with a smile.

At the risk of turning away would-be viewers, I have to apply the disclaimer that The Man from Earth is slow. It is also captivating. There is a shallow climax about an hour into the hour and half feature but it never gets truly action-packed; if that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere. The end of the film, however, is fully worth the wait. And the rental fee.