Tomorrow review: The plight of a paraplegic war veteran in cinema has been covered before, most famously in Oliver Stone’s 1989 Oscar-nominated bio-pic BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, in which Tom Cruise portrayed the Vietnam war veteran Ron Kovic, who was wounded in battle and had to find the strength to carry on in a wheelchair.
Other films have looked at it, amongst them Richard Donner’s acclaimed but seldom-seen INSIDE MOVES (1980) based on a novel by Todd Walton, which starred John Savage, who played Steve in Michael Cimino’s Oscar winning THE DEER HUNTER (1978).
A new British independent film attempts to continue the tradition – and has real potential to fulfil its mandate amongst mature audiences.
Directed by veteran Script Supervisor for Martin Scorsese, Martha Pinson (this film is also co-Executive Produced by Scorsese) TOMORROW is the tale of Tesla (Sebastian Street), a war veteran who was crippled by a bomb whilst on duty in the Middle East. A wheelchair doesn’t provide much comfort, but extra drinking and a disappearing love doesn’t help much either.
Whilst out drowning his sorrows, he befriends dog-lover Sky (Stuart Brennan) who invites him to meet his social circle, including the likes of Mandy (Joss Stone, in a brief cameo), as well as flatmates Lee-Anne (Sophie Kennedy Clark) and Katie (Stephanie Leonidas), an aspiring businessperson completing an MA, for whom Tesla shows his culinary skills and soon the two of them fall in love.
Katie has designs on opening her own restaurant – and with help from Sky and Tesla, is introduced to Mr. Charles (James Cosmo) who offers a lead-in to a real positive business plan. Soon, however, Tesla’s disability, coupled with Sky’s own personal problems, begin to rear their ugly head and seep into the veneer of everyone’s respective relationships…
Although it succumbs to a fair amount of sentiment in the second half of the film, TOMORROW has sufficient groundwork in the first half to maintain the audience’s involvement emotionally. Thanks to a decent script by Brennan and Street, as well as the chemistry between Street and Leonidas, TOMORROW is a tender, sometimes gut-wrenching affair, heightening the evident obstacles that love must overcome. Stephen Fry also appears at one point.
Although shot in London, the film doesn’t telegraph the fact that it is shot there, relying on subtle references to England’s capital rather than the extravagant examples in many a Hollywood or Working Title production.
TOMORROW has both empathy and sympathy for its characters and acquits well enough to give the film a fair shot at finding the right indie film audience.
For more about the film, please click here.
