Tomorrow
Description
Starring Robert Duvall in his breakthrough screen role, Tomorrow is a poignant tale based on a short story by William Faulkner, and scripted by Academy Award® winner Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies). Duvall is Jackson Fentry, a young man
who leaves his father’s farm to work at a local sawmill. Fentry rescues a young pregnant woman, who has been abandoned by her husband and family, and the two fall in love. Shot in black and white to convey the feel… More >>
Duvall appears to reprise his catatonic role from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. This time, however, he is the main character. (Gasp!) There is virtually no action in this B+W movie that is about 45 minutes too long. (One hour should be sufficient.) Most of the movie takes place within a 15-foot square decrepit shack. Fentry (Duvall) is an uneducated man with zero personality or close friends who learns to acquire compassion through unexpected life events. Drudgery is punctuated by vignettes of relatively brief inopportune happiness. Due to unavoidable circumstances, Fentry was able to keep few of his promises but all of his loyalty.
The story is compelling but — due to the drab character portrayed by Duvall — could have been told in a shorter amount of time; apparently the director wanted the audience to learn endurance or loyalty first hand.
Sometimes the best advice is restraint. I gambled over 20 bucks based on glowing reviews and the fact that Duvall is a respected actor. However this led to quite a disappointment. I could not imagine viewing this entire movie more than once. If you are a fan of Duvall, do yourself a favor and rent the DVD. You’ll likely only view this one time so do not make a big financial investment in it.
Rating: 3 / 5
I should have paid more attention to K. Williams’ review. We disagree on one point, though. Williams thinks the movie is too long. I think that any length would be too long.
Yes, the acting is excellent, but in order to create a good movie you absolutely must start with a good script. This one just drags on and on. I stayed with the movie all the way to the end, thinking that, with all the 5-star reviews, there must eventually be something to this boring story. Wrong!
I rarely give a bad review (see my others), mostly because I don’t usually err when I buy something. This DVD was a mistake.
Do not buy this DVD until you have rented it first.
Also, be aware of the review phenomenon wherein people who disagree with your review will mark that it wasn’t helpful.
Rating: 1 / 5
The story is a tragedy in the purest sense. It is a tale of a humble and good man who loses the two greatest loves of his life-his wife and child. The bleakness of the ending likely kept the film from being more popular. However, it should be seen by every serious movie fan just for the performance of Robert Duvall. This great actor has never given a better performance. It left me awestruck in its simplicity and believability.
Rating: 4 / 5
After so many painful memories of too many Lit classes with far too much Faulkner I almost turned off this movie the minute the announcer on TCM said his name in relation to this movie. Well I’m glad I did, though I can’t say this movie hasn’t cost me. This is not a feel good movie, it rips your heart out. I don’t tend to like Faulkner, he always seemed a bit pretentious in comparison with contemporaries like Hemingway. This movie/story is as far from pretentious as anything could be but with all the depth and heart kept in. If anyone every asked me what a truely good person would be like, I could only point to Duvall’s masterful portrayal of Fulkner’s heartrending character. This film is deliberate in its simplicity and that may turn some people off. It’s a story about simple people in a simple setting, which may seem alien to our modern over-stimulated brains. However, it all works beautifully to create an incredibly real and touching slice of life. I wouldn’t recommend this to people who need a lot of action in a movie or even people who aren’t movie buffs. Also, you likely need to be a fan of drama to like this film and not find it slow. Then again, I hate drama but adored this movie so maybe you should take a chance.
Rating: 5 / 5
RATING-PG for thematic elements. There is one intense scene of pain during childbirth but nothing explicit. A murder happens on-screen but nothing graphic or closeup.
STARRING-Robert Duvall. Screenplay by Horton Foote.
THEME-Unconditional love and compassion.
STORY-Based on a short story by William Faulkner, the film opens with the brief flashback of a night scene where a young man and woman are apparently trying to elope without her parent’s knowledge. The family is aroused and the young man is shot and killed by the father. The camera then moves to the courtroom of a small Mississippi town where a murder trial is in its final argument stage. As the defense wraps up its final argument, the camera pans the jury zooming in on Jackson Fentry (Duvall). When he casts the lone vote against acquitting the father resulting in a hung jury, the defense attorney wonders why would this man vote against 11 of his peers, in this his first trial as a lawyer. The rest of the movie tells us why by taking us back 20 years in the life of Fentry. Duvall is at his best in his role of Jackson Fentry, an introverted cotton farmer who leaves his father’s farm to be the watchman at a rural sawmill about 30 miles from home. We see a tragic and touching love story between Duvall and a young, pregnant woman who has been deserted by her husband. In Duvall you see man’s capacity for love and to do good. In the end we also experience man’s capacity for evil and to do harm to his fellow man. This is not a fast-paced action film with lots of special effects but the acting is outstanding and well worth watching. Lu G. for Lu’s Reviews 9/15/2007. http://www.lusreviews.blogspot.com
Rating: 5 / 5