Jump Tomorrow

A few years before JUMP TOMORROW was filmed, the same leading man (Tunde Adebimpe) starred in a shorter version of this script entitled "Jorge". I have not seen the original film, so I cannot base my review on it but I was so taken by JUMP TOMORROW that I'm going to try to find a copy of this 30 minute short.

Adebimpe very ably plays a Nigerian-American (George) who is a very odd man, indeed and I loved his low-key performance. In many ways he's a total geek and it's nice to finally see a Black nerd in a film who is NOT "Steve Urkel"! During most of the film, George is very quiet and shy--part of which is due to his introverted personality and part is due to his lack of enthusiasm for a pending arranged marriage. This film is about his trek from home to Niagra Falls to be wed.

Along the way, he meets up with a very strange man (Gerard) who is suicidal and desperately in need of a friend. While George is in a hurry to get to his wedding, he is too decent a man to leave Gerard in his emotional condition. So, they travel together cross country to the wedding and they both become very unlikely friends.

There's MUCH more to this movie that this--including a tough to believe but nice romance that occurs between George and a new lady--again, someone who seems so unlike George in almost every way. While this aspect of the film is a tad predictable, the performances and dialog are so fresh and unusual that the film held my interest throughout. As a result, I strongly recommend you see this romantic-comedy if you are looking for something different from the usual Hollywood offerings.

I mean the story was simple, production was fine although the budget obviously wasn't in the 10s of millions of dollars and I never quite understood why George and Alicia liked each other so much. But despite all of that I sat in the theater very happy that I took a chance on this one. I think the spartan production made the whole thing seem more real, and since it seemed more real I wanted them to be happy... The characters were all very likeable too, like Gerard and Alicia's aunt. Finally, bonus points for not using subtitles (hey, I understood most of the Espanol!).

Jump Tomorrow is one of those smart and funny films you just can't help but like. A first time effort from writer/director Joel Hopkins , Jump Tomorrow is a fresh breath of air and an absolute relief from the bevy of re-hashed romantic comedies which find their way into theaters. At the center of Jump Tomorrow is George (portrayed by first time star Tunde Adebimpe), a very serious, composed, and all too contained Nigerian. At times George reminds me of Woody Allen or M. Hulot as he awkwardly stumbles through his life on a journey to the inevitable. But it's the journey that has an impact on George and watching that change is both humorous and entertaining.

Joel Hopkins has a lot of the same qualities as director Wes Anderson (who directed the fantabulous Rushmore) - he has a sense of framing, music and pacing that is funny, but not at the expense of the characters. Over the course of the movie you really get to know and like these characters, feel for their struggle and can revel in their personal triumphs. It's rare that you get that from a Romantic Comedy, and for that I'd definitely recommend Jump Tomorrow. Think of it as the perfect 'indie' date movie!

George is a young Nigerian American who is due to get married to Sophie, who is coming from Nigeria. George is one day late to pick her up from the airport and she has gone ahead to Niagara Falls for their wedding. George bumps into Gerard, who is on the point of suicide from unreturned love, and the pair travel up to Niagara Falls. On the way George meets Alicia, herself in a relationship and he begins to fall for her.

Extended from a short I haven't yet seen (Jorge) this film attracted me as it was part of a season of `indie' films and shorts being shown on channel 4. From the opening scenes it was apparent that this film had a nicely comic tone to it that was amusing. The plot is also `nice', a romance without ever getting too heavy or too sickly sweet. The comic feel running through the film keeps it amusing even when nothing much happens.

The film's weakness is that it is clearly made by a director of shorts. The feel of the film is like that of many short films – development is not the key and it assumes we sort of know the characters well enough after only a few minutes. Similarly the film feels very episodic – the scenes don't flow into each other but feel more like they are very distinct and separate events. However that said the film is still entertaining but it didn't give me more as the film went on – rather just more of the same. I enjoyed the film but it's hard to praise it simply because it doesn't excel itself in any one area but drifts along amiably enough.

Part of the reason I enjoyed the film was a great lead by Adebimpe, who fits the role like a glove! He is suitably uptight and is very good as George. Verbeke's Alicia is not as good but is `nice'. Girardot is great fun and really gives the film some energy.

Overall I enjoyed this film and many others will as long as you're in the mood for something slight. If you expect something more substantial then you may be disappointed as this really is a film with all the qualities of a short – in some cases this is good and in others it is a weakness. Generally the film was `nice', I neither loved nor hated it but did enjoy it – I just can't find a better way of putting it as I did think it was remarkably middle of the road in many regards.

A low-budget romantic comedy - one of many in recent years, unfortunately - with unfunniness in all of its inglorious drawn out entirety. Indie movies used to be - whether good or bad - fairly original and stayed away from some basic Hollywood cliché genres: such as the romantic comedy. With all those Grant/Bullock or Hanks/Ryan or Clooney/Pfeiffer sappy movies around, why would an "auteur", an "indie rebel", dirty his hands with that clap-trap? He would, and he will and he wants to because he is a BAD "auteur".

Written/directed by a certain Joel Hopkins, the movie is predictable and dull. The black guy and the attractive female cast are likable enough, but the movie treads very familiar territory. The guy who is supposed to be French (but has more of a Spanish accent, the twit) is supposed to provide most of the laughs but the script is crap and he has no talent. It's sort of like a Hal Hartley film, minus the good dialog and the originality.