Arriving on Earth, a humanoid alien adopts the name Thomas Jerome Newton and starts up his own business empire by producing revolutionary projects such as self-developing movie film and patenting them. Soon he has a vast multinational empire under his command, but the real reason for his mission to Earth is finally revealed to the woman he has fallen in love with - his home planet has turned into an arid desert through centuries-long drought, and his mission is to secure a water supply, hence having to raise the countess millions he now has. But Newton's time on Earth is being wasted as he falls to a chronic drink problem. Worse still, business rivals and the US Government have combined to shut him down, and Newton is destined to become marooned on Earth, unable to save his own people. Adapted from a novel by Walter S. Tevis (The Hustler), director Nicolas Roeg makes the film version of Tevis' story into a fascinating and intelligent sci-fi movie, but perhaps the problem is that Roeg wants to do too much, packing the film with ideas and themes which eventually make the movie confusing and slightly hard-going. David Bowie is ideal casting as the unearthly Newton, eventually finding the world and its temptation are his downfall, while writer and satirist Buck Henry is also well placed as the lawyer to whom Newton first approaches with his patents, then makes his business partner. Not always an easy film to follow, but always fascinating to watch and if a film is weighted down by its' ambitions that is surely better than a movie with no ambition at all. Remade in the late 80s as a truly dreadful US TV pilot which luckily did not go to a series.