That is sadly the truth behind this quite interesting adaptation of the book. If you've read the book, and you liked it, then you'll love the movie. If not, then bad luck. Because the weakest point in this movie is the lack of explanations and logic behind the main character's actions. In the book, it's all beautifully described as the blue transformation of the alien into a human, and his loss of motivation to rescue his planet from a severe draught. In the movie, you just see an alien doing things without much reason or thought about them. This lack of understanding of the main character makes the movie kinda dull and void. However, having read the book, you'll understand what and why is he doing. That's not much help because the majority of the viewers will be lost...
That said, it's a nice movie, maybe a bit on the surrealist side, it has an oniric touch (or maybe the daze of a hang-over after too much booze) which goes well with the atmosphere of the book and story. David Bowie, the obvious star, does very well on the skin of an alien, clearly helped by his quite particular lookings. The supporting actors do well too, but in the end it's just an above-average movie. Not bad, but thousand light-years of the quality and depth of story which the book has.
In short: could have been great if the script was at least decent. Worth a watch, still.
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