Review: 'The Tomorrow Man' overstays its welcome

Bleecker Street Media, 2019.

Two great performances by John Lithgow and Blythe Danner isn't enough to save "The Tomorrow Man" from itself.

Grade: C+

Ed (John Lithgow) lives a lonely existence, is estranged from his grown son and has built a supply shack in his garage in preparation of the coming apocalypse. Ronnie (Blythe Danner) is a widow who lost her daughter at the age of 13, and who is an avid hoarder. One stuck in the past. One living for tomorrow. Something's gotta give.

It seems that in recent years, we've been getting 2-3 "senior" romances per year, a trend that I have no problem with and in fact, feel quite satisfied with. When they're done well (think last year's "The Leisure Seeker"), I say the more the merrier. But "The Tomorrow Man" doesn't seem to know what to do once it introduces these eccentric characters to one another, and the second-half of the film becomes quite the slog through one clichéd premise after another. An unexpected illness, an uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner. Lithgow and Danner are great to watch and have undeniably kooky chemistry, but the script ends up failing them in the end.

"The Tomorrow Man" is a watchable, character-driven drama, but it isn't worth looking forward to or remembering...it's just sort of here.

Grade: C+

Genre: Drama.
Run Time: 1 hour 34 minutes.
Rated: PG-13.

Starring: John Lithgow, Blythe Danner.

Written and Directed by Noble Jones (feature-film directorial debut).

"The Tomorrow Man" opens in limited-release on Friday, June 7th, 2019.