Movie Review- The Tomorrow Man

A divorced doomsday prepper named Ed (John Lithgow), falls in love with a beautiful widow named Ronnie (Blythe Danner). Ed meets Ronnie at a local grocery store and is impressed by her shopping skills, mistaking her for a fellow prepper. However, not only is Ronnie not a prepper, but in complete contrast to Ed’s meticulously ordered life, Ronnie is a secret hoarder, hiding an out-of-control habit that she developed in response to the pain of losing both her husband and daughter.

The Tomorrow Man has two compelling lead characters in Ed and Ronnie. They are both seniors in pain, using material objects as a way to secure their own versions of safety. In the United States, many of us have more material possessions than we need and this story deals with different types of mental disorders that can outwardly manifest through our relationship with our objects. The themes of The Tomorrow Man are well-timed with the currently tidiness crazy sparked by Japanese organization guru, Marie Kondo.

Ed and Ronnie each feel an extreme lack of control. Ed takes control via an orderly stockpile of necessities, such as toilet paper and canned goods.. He creates lists and makes what he considers smart shopping choices. He does not want to be caught unaware if the world comes to an end, which he thinks is imminent. He spends lots of time interacting with other preppers on doomsday message boards and making efforts to convert his adult son, which creates a strained relationship. While Ed may believe that there is a need to be prepared for doomsday, it is clear that he is also reacting to a nasty divorce and the break-up of his family. He is not close to his son. The prepping is Ed’s way of feeling like he has control over his life.

Ronnie’s control comes from the comfort of buying and surrounding herself with objects. When her daughter and husband died, she simply kept their things and kept adding to her collections, until the problem grew out of control. Ed loves to share that he is a prepper, where as Ronnie is ashamed to be a hoarder. She dates Ed for a long time, before sharing this aspect of her life with him. It is too painful.

The Tomorrow Man is an interesting story idea.. I’m fascinated by the way we relate to our possessions and I am drawn towards stories that involve grief. The lead actors are fabulous. However, The Tomorrow Man is not a great film. It was snail pace slow. Ed and Ronnie are socially awkward characters and rather than it be endearing, it was uncomfortable.

Ed develops a crush on Ronnie, while seeing her at a grocery store and to get her attention, he stalks her in a creepy way. She is clearly uncomfortable with his behavior, yet, she inexplicably agrees to his offer of a date. I really thought that we were going to discover that Ed or even both Ed and Ronnie, are autistic, which would explain the lack towards understanding social cues, but this was not revealed in the story. For example, in Graeme Simsion’s novel, The Rosie Project, the main character is autistic and in love, making many blunders, yet he is likeable and charming. Ed remained uncomfortable throughout The Tomorrow Man.

The ending was quirky. I did not anticipate it. The scene that precedes the final minute, is quite lovely, with Ed and Ronnie both making big strides towards overcoming their issues with control.

I would not recommend The Tomorrow Man. The story is clunky and slow. However, it does present thought-provoking content, specifically, it will make you consider you own relationship with your stuff. It made me feel like having a good spring clean!

Book Review-Graeme Simsion's The Best of Adam Sharp

Thank You to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of Graeme Simsion's novel, The Best of Adam Sharp, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Twenty years ago, while working in Australia, Adam Sharp met Angelina Brown, a vivacious soap-opera actress. Adam and Angelina had a short and intense relationship, which ended when Adam's work took him to New Zealand. 

Now, over twenty-years later, Adam is living in England and his marriage is on the rocks. His wife, Claire, has a major career opportunity that might require her to relocate to the United States, and Adam isn't sure he should follow. In the midst of his marital crisis, Adam receives an email from Angelina, whom he had lost touch with years ago. Although Angelina is married with three children, she begins a flirtatious email exchange that plunges Adam down the rabbit hole of nostalgia. Angelina invites Adam to spend a weekend with her and her husband, Charles. This weekend seems like a bad idea, a very bad idea: but can Adam resist his past?

LIKE- I've read Simsion's The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect, and I'm a fan of his writing. He's fabulous at creating memorable characters. The Best of Adam Sharp is a character drive novel. It is a riveting emotional drama, one where the stakes are enormous and it feels like everyone is bound to lose.

Nostalgia is at the heart of The Best of Adam Sharp. Adam and Angelina meet prior to the internet being a big deal and when they part, they don't have an easy form of communication. It's a contrast to todays technology and social media, where it is easy to keep in contact with people from your past. Prior to Angelina reconnecting, Adam only has his memories of her. He has a hobby as musician and he links songs to memories. He met Angelina while playing the piano and singing at a bar: Angelina joining him on stage. They connect through music and the  lyrics become a form of secret communication that takes on a huge importance. I think most readers will be able to relate to this form of nostalgia, where we look at the past with rose-colored glasses and where we put certain moments on a pedestal ( good or bad memories), allowing particular fragments to take on a deeper meaning. The further the distance, sometimes leads to less perspective. 

The first half of the novel is about the nostalgia and the romance, but the second half takes a rather dark turn, when Adam decides to stay at the country house in France with Angelina and Charles. Angelina and Charles do not have a happy marriage and they have brought Adam into their troubles. The moral of the story being, while it is possible to reconnect with your past, be careful that the boundaries are clear, and that your past, doesn't endanger your present or future. 

 DISLIKE- The second half of the book left me feeling funny about both Adam and Angelina. Character likability is certainly not a requirement for me to enjoy a novel, however it helps. I liked both Angelina and Adam, when they were nostalgic for their past, but when they crossed the line into a bizarre and rather uncomfortable scenario with Angelina's husband, I was left with a bad taste for both of them. I wasn't sure what to think about Charles. It's realistic that under the circumstances he would be a little hostile or conflicted, but it was hard to respect his character, even in the end. The story included a bit of erotica, which was surprising. I'm not prudish, but under the circumstances of the novel, it was highly uncomfortable to read. I guess what I'm saying is that I felt "squirmy" while reading the second half, which is what I think Simsion set out to do.

RECOMMEND- Yes. Simsion is a wonderful storyteller, who writes about complex emotions and relationships. The Best of Adam Sharp made a deep impression on me.