Tomorrow

Just a wonderful performance by Robert Duvall who dominates the entire film. He reminded me a lot of Boo Radley in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and though Boo didn't speak, his mannerisms were similar. Duvall's interesting accent struck me as being as much hill-billy as southern. Several minor things troubled me a little about the movie. I did expect Jackson (Duvall) to try to recapture the boy, and I was somewhat surprised by his acceptance of the seizure. The ending also was unexpected. Olga Bellin also did not appear unusually ill for a dying woman in my view either, though she did a nice job with her role. Nonetheless, this was a fine movie and the acting was just superb.

It's always interesting to see a movie from a play. This one made me wonder how the intimate, brooding mood of extended silences reached across the stage into the audience, but it certainly works on film. The Netflix blurb prepared me for a depressing experience, but I came away with a sense that I had spent a few years in a world that is thousands of miles and hundreds of years from my own. The characters have a limited range of expression, but what they feel and say is consistent and almost meditative. Yes, there is tragedy, but the gift of a film that opens a window on deep experience is that you are uplifted rather than let down. A nice little movie that makes me so grateful for DVDs.

I saw this film for the first time over a week ago and can't get it out of my mind. I was not familiar with the story nor had I ever seen Robert Duvall in such an powerful but understated performance. At first I wondered if I would like the movie but soon found I could not take my eyes off the screen. It was like being transported back in time to a place I've never been, and was watching this story unfold as if it was actually happening right in front of me. Robert Duvall was amazing, absolutely stunning. The story says so much about love and how important it is for all of us. Watch this movie...it is riveting and such a great story!

There are a few times when you discover an actor who just gets the characters right. The Col. in Apcolypse Now is very real (I was a Marine). Gus in Loansome Dove (I was raised by cowboys). The lead in Tender Mercies (my cousin is a country western star), etc. In this hard to find film you will see a great actor Duvall at his early best. A great author who builds a penetrating study in Faulkner. A great screenwriter play-write director Foote (who worked many time with Duvall and knows how to show him at his best). These all come together in a very special way. A film that is for actors and people who get it... not for the masses(may think it moves slow). This is a file for folks who see the little things that make craft Art. I Love the film and the black white works perfectly.

Incredibly moving, well told tale. Robert Duvall takes the viewer into the vast depths of a man's heart and tragically into the dark night of the soul. This Shakespearean-like Tragedy brings the viewer to cathartic release and lingers with the viewer long after the final credits. The precise acting, the black&white cinematography, the gut-wrenching emotions combine to give the right viewer an extraordinary film experience. The "right" viewer = Someone who has ever loved without reservation, a hero of the heart. For the wrong viewer: slow, maybe pointless and yes, maybe an inaccurate rendition of the original short story. However, what some may see as flaws, are carefully crafted intentions to dramatize/present on film difficult-to-describe, complex emotions and relationships.

Tomorrow is one of the finest movies I have seen. Duvall was excellent in this movie, and even he points back to this as his finest work in cinema (I read an article once in which Duvall said that this role was his "King Lear"). The story is simple but significant. The impact of it is substantial. It is not a movie for hard-hearted cynics. Although it is not sappy, and by no means is it over-the-top (understated is a much better description), the movie does require a man to peel back his macho veneer and and try to identify with a life situation many men may find almost ridiculous (or horrifying) in this day, i.e. a life of faithful love and service. As such, this film would not be a top pick of fans of "The Man Show", or anything on MTV, for that matter. It is a gutwrenching story of sacrifice and self-denial; in other words, it is a REAL love story that brings to mind the love of God for the unlovely.

In my opinion, Robert Duvall's performance made this story into a believable movie, and turned his character into a man of understated strength, and an admirable person. He managed to capture the mannerisms, accent, and speech syntax of his character and the region to the extent that the other actors' otherwise good portrayals appeared out of place. I'm not sure that I would have seen the movie, had I read the story first; however, having seen the movie, I want to read the book.