X
- 2019
- PG-13
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 34 m
- 2019
- PG-13
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 34 m
Summary Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. In a small town somewhere in America, these two people will try to find love while trying not to get lost in each other's stuff.
Directed By: Noble Jones
Written By: Noble Jones
- 2019
- PG-13
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 34 m
- 2019
- PG-13
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 34 m
The Tomorrow Man
49
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. In a small town somewhere in America, these two people will try to find love while trying not to get lost in each other's stuff.
Directed By: Noble Jones
Written By: Noble Jones
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
49
28% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
56% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
17% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
49
28% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
56% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
17% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
If you cherish the rare opportunity to watch magnificent actors as perfect as Blythe Danner and John Lithgow giving it all they’ve got, in a film about grown-ups, then the line starts here.
The quirky romantic comedy The Tomorrow Man relies on the believability of their late-in-life love in order for the film to work. Which it does, to some degree – that degree being small-story preciousness and the simple pleasure of eating popcorn while watching Blythe Danner and John Lithgow watching television as they eat popcorn.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
6.6
43% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
57% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
6.6
43% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
57% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
A delightfully charming and quirky senior romance tale whose partners cling to eccentricities with which they cannot let go but who at least have each other to see their way through the tenuous and painful process. While not all elements of the film or characters work, and even though some aspects are a little too formula for their own good, the picture nevertheless has more than its share of funny twists and turns, as well as fine performances by John Lithgow and Blythe Danner as the unlikely consorts. It serves up an excellent example of living in the moment, without worrying about a past that has come and gone and a future that has yet to arrive. Think of this as the geriatric version of "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" but without the rampant silliness and you've got an idea what this charmer is all about.
Report
If the ultimate effect is a little more slight than one might’ve hoped, Jones and his appealing cast nonetheless sustain a low-key charm even after the enigmatic initial promise burns off like morning fog.
There’s a demographic niche desperate to be served that this movie is aimed at, and more’s the pity that it’s not better as there are so few filmmakers and studios willing to tell stories of this generation, for this generation.
John Lithgow and Blythe Danner make an offbeat and winning combination, with total belief that they’re in a really good movie. Unfortunately, they’re not.
The Tomorrow Man is a cloying, at times disturbing tale of two dotty seniors whose eccentricities unexpectedly mesh.
While the film’s last 30 seconds are refreshing, they hardly redeem the previous 90 minutes of utter predictability.
John Lithgow can do no cinematic wrong. Even though he doesn't play an impressive historical figure, he gets to create a quietly unusual character: a prepper who stores goods in a secret room for the ultimate end. His simple existence is upended when he sees an attractive woman (Blythe Danner) and their tentative relationship begins. Of course, Danner is always a delight and this time is no exception. While there are personal demons for them to overcome, it's really about their budding romance. The script and direction are adequate without ever being exceptional, but the film's strength is the sweet harmony of these 2 actors and their lovely duet.
Report
John Lithgow and Blyth Danner are 'go to' actors who can always be depended on to make a movie just a bit better than others and sometimes give a performance that stands out from all others in the cast. In the case of "The Tomorrow Man" the director/writer Noble Jones lets both down giving them a good setup but then leaves them astray and the actors do the best that they can but it doesn't add up to a hit. Ed (Lithgow) and Ronnie (Danner) are septuagenarians with the former arranging a 'meet cute' episode outside a grocery store, where Ed has noticed Ronnie, that soon turns into while not quite a love story but more of awkward coming out of their shells tale. Ed and Ronnie are hoarders but Ed is hoarding for the future apocalypse in a well-organized manner while Ronnie is hoarding because of past events without a system to talk about. There are quiet scenes of Ed and Ronnie on a couch eating popcorn and watching television or Ed bringing her flowers or she spooning him, both fully dressed There is one scene, in particular, when Noble Jones, the screenwriter, lets his whole cast down by having Ed bring Ronnie, introducing her as his girlfriend, to a Thanksgiving Dinner given by son Brian (Derek Cecil), Brian's wife Janet (Katie Aselton) with their daughter Jeanine, (Sophie Thatcher) that just falls flat when it should have shown us more about Ed and his way of thinking. "The Tomorrow Man" could have been, should have been, an interesting story of septuagenarians as the two actors playing them brought the charm they have as actors but weren't allowed to the get into the whys of the 'baggage' we all bring to relationships when we are older. Nor could I buy the ending even though I know one should check their logic at the door when walking into a movie! Oh yes, let's not forget the role Wendy Makkena plays bringing a real dumb angle to the whole thing.
Report
Production Company
Symbolic Exchange,
Two Sues Casting & Locations,
Anonymous Content,
AB VFX Studios,
Meridian Entertainment
Release Date May 22, 2019
Duration 1 h 34 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Experience 2019's First Great Romantic Comedy for Grown-Ups!
Awards
Gasparilla International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Cleveland International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination
