By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Joel Hopkins
Starring: Hippolyte Girardot | James Wilby | Natalia Verbeke | Tunde Adebimpe
Country: united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2001
Running time: 97
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0247380
Michael says: “I caught this sweet but flawed first indie feature yesterday, on the strength of a fabulously, groovy trailer. In the end, I feel the trailer was better than the film, but there was a lot to like about JUMP TOMORROW.
“A terminally shy and awkward man named George is facing an arranged marriage to a childhood friend from Nigeria, when he meets the free-spirited, Spanish Alicia at the airport and is invited by her to a party. At that same airport, Girard proposes to his girlfriend only to be rejected and left alone. Girard promptly latches onto George and the two go first to the party (where George becomes even more smitten with Alicia), then northward to Niagara Falls where George is due to marry. Along the way, they pick up the hitchhiking Alicia and boyfriend Nathan, who are also headed to Canada.
“The first half of this film was almost painfully flat, with the director going for comedy and failing. There are several cute moments, and a couple funny ones as well, but watching the comic moments that miss isn’t very fun. Then suddenly, halfway through, the story finds its soul and truly comes to life. As the characters find their honesty, so too does the film, and from then on, JUMP TOMORROW becomes truly endearing and enjoyable.
“I loved the natural looking actors, the groovy art direction, the score and the soundtrack. The story had its highs and lows… and this director should hone his comic skills some more before trying them out on the big screen again.” 3 cats
Scot says: “I found the film quite charming and the performances quite good all around, actually. The plot is not new, granted. (In fact, it very nearly matches chapter for chapter the other near-miss road trip movie of this year, I’LL TAKE YOU THERE.) But I found the story elements fresh, the characters likable, and the dialog natural. And while the art direction was bold and obvious, it did not offend me.
“The problem with the film is simply that director Joel Hopkins has no sense of comic timing. When the romantic leads are together, this isn’t an issue because he lets the sweetness and sentiment of the story take over. The chemistry between Alicia (Natalia Verbeke) and George (Tunde Adebimpe) — I mean Jorge — is quite remarkable. But in the beginning of the film, and at times later, I think Hopkins felt pressure to entertain and did not have the finesse to successfully pull off broad comedy. It would have suited me fine to simply watch George, the passionate tiger trapped in a suit, propelled unwillingly toward tomorrow where he’s either got to jump or climb down from the roof.” 3.5 cats
Stephen says: “Through the first half of this film, when it looked like it might be the worst non-Hollywood thing I’ve seen since THE PRICE OF MILK, if not before, I was mostly imagining giving it negative cats – less than zero – 3 negative cats (since it wouldn’t deserve even a negative superlative), and the cats would be the mangy alley kind, that might give you rabies if you looked at them crosswise. But as Michael reports, it did indeed find its feet when the various characters wound up at Alicia’s mother’s house – there were fleeting moments that reminded me of STRICTLY BALLROOM. I can’t agree that it was completely saved by this, but I’d probably give it 1.5 positive cats (so long as the fraction doesn’t involve vivisection…) Positives included actors who were normal looking people (not always competent actors…), and some broad insights into the vagaries of love and being in love. Negatives are far too numerous to list comprehensively, but include painfully inept art direction through most of the first half (which didn’t completely disappear in the second), really lame party scenes, over-dependence on cuteness, some really inept dialog, etc. etc. It was surprising that the most irritating character by far (Girard, not Alicia’s boyfriend who comes in solid second), became bearable and even fleetingly endearing. This rarely happens.” 1.5 cats