The Tomorrow Man
**Seen at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival.**
“The Tomorrow Man” is far from my favorite movie with John Lithgow, but, as it stands now, it contains one of my favorite performances of his. We have not really seen this type of well-rounded character for him to play outside of his acclaimed work on “Dexter” and “3rd Rock From the Sun,” and, in many ways, it goes beyond both of them. This is tender and sweet and funny and a little scary, but it’s always interesting, and we’re always empathetic towards Ed. Any fan of Lithgow’s owes it to themselves to see this film for themselves.
Ed Hemsler is a loner, who occasionally talks at his son Brian on the phone, but usually is stocking up on essentials at the store or controlling conversations with conspiracy theorists on the internet. Whenever the big event hits, he’ll be ready. What he isn’t ready for, however, is Ronnie (Blythe Danner), a widower he sees at the store one day, and feels an instant connection to. He makes her aware he is interested in her, and eventually gets her to agree to go out with him. Things are good, but they both have secrets that make their prospective romance complicated.
For most of the movie, writer-director Noble Jones has made a lovely, light, charming love story between two older people who find they need each other to be honest with themselves about what’s important to them. Though it ticks a lot of boxes and cliches, I cannot help but enjoy Lithgow and Danner together playing these characters. Near the end, though, there is a choice that not only shocked me to no end, but also felt as though it was the antithesis of everything Jones had been working towards narratively with Lithgow’s character, especially. The more I thought about it afterwards, the more I saw that maybe that initial feeling was an overreaction to the moment, but it still feels like it throws the film for a loop, and it’s debatable how much it helps the film as the credits begin to roll. I’m curious to see how other people react to it, and I’m curious to see how I would feel upon re-watch of this film when it comes to theatres.
