Mariage et conséquences

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.

My first viewing of "Jump Tomorrow" was a rare instance when I knew I was going to love a film as soon as I saw the first shot, which depicts nothing more unusual than a bespectacled man being fitted into a suit. From the man's stiff posture and timid face it is obvious that he's very shy and passive. I immediately realized that I was seeing a good actor who was able to suggest an entire personality while hardly doing anything, indeed barely moving at all.

The name of the actor is Tunde Adebimpe, and I am astonished that he is not more famous. Apparently, this is one of the only films he's ever acted in, other than the short college film it's based on, in which he played the same character. Primarily, he's an animator rather than an actor. But the performance he gives in this film is nothing short of remarkable. And it is in the course of an extremely creative and quirky little movie that brings surprising life to an old formula.

The plot is simple: George, an American from a Nigerian immigrant family, is about to marry a childhood friend, and on the way to the wedding he falls for a Spanish woman, Alicia. If that premise sounds hopelessly familiar, the movie finds just about every possible way to make it seem fresh and original. While the beginning and end stick pretty closely to the conventions of the genre, the events in between manage to take some very interesting turns. The film is like one of those magical rooms that's much larger on the inside than on the outside.

When you hear the premise you might be led to assume, as I first did, that this is merely another ethnic comedy about someone who's expected to marry within the culture but ends up falling for someone of another ethnicity and at first the family objects, but eventually everyone comes around and learns a valuable lesson about cultural tolerance. While some of those films are enjoyable in their way, this patronizing approach is all too common in the movies, where the formula is always about whether some "exotic" culture is willing to adapt to Western norms that are inevitably deemed superior. Thankfully, "Jump Tomorrow" is not in that tradition at all. In fact, it deals surprisingly little with ethnicity, even though all the major characters are either non-white or non-American. By the middle of the film, you're likely to forget that it's even about an interracial relationship, because that point is never dwelt upon. George's family naturally expects him to marry the woman he grew up with, and the reason he's going along with their plans has nothing to do with some antiquated family betrothal custom: it is simply because he's such a passive and accepting individual.

Adebimpe plays the character to such perfection that some of the movie's laughs come simply from the nuances of his voice and gestures. His lines reflect an understanding of these subtle traits, as when he casually observes that "My face doesn't make sense without glasses." Comedy usually depends on frustrating a character's expectations, and "Jump Tomorrow" is no exception. I just don't believe I've ever seen in any other comedy a character quite like George, who wants nothing more than to blend in and be invisible, to avoid making waves. But he's inevitably humiliated in a hilarious sequence involving a woman named Heather Leather (the name still cracks me up), in an ill-advised scheme by his friend Gerard to make Alicia jealous. The event takes place at a hotel with a love motif and a variety of strange furniture, including a bathtub in the form of giant champagne glass. Without ever quite descending into surrealism, these scenes play like a tribute to several comic filmmakers from Blake Edwards to Woody Allen.

But George has a very basic dignity that grows on you as the film progresses. Gerard has his own problems, and indeed the movie's title refers to George's words when talking his friend out of suicide. Gerard calls it "the best talk-down speech I've ever heard," and I'd have to agree.

As in most romantic comedies, the rival love interest is a douche bag. But in "Jump Tomorrow," even this character is given so many quirky and eccentric traits that he seems an original creation. He's a British professor who practices taekwondo in the rain, gives Alicia an engagement ring made of bone, and refers to her family as "fascinating." We are tempted to wonder what she, a hopeless romantic, sees in him. That is a question we've all asked many times, both about movies and about real life.

At one point, Gerard gets into an argument with the professor over whether the French language is obsolete. This is one of many amusing scenes that deal with the theme of language differences. In an attempt to impress Alicia, George tries to learn Spanish by listening to travel audio-cassettes picked up at a local convenience store and by watching Spanish soap operas. Of course, he never gains more than a beginner's proficiency in the language, but in his fantasies he can speak the language fluently. The movie spoofs Spanish soaps in a handful of scenes in which he imagines himself as a character in one of these shows. Then there is Alicia's deaf-mute grandfather who takes an immediate liking to George, giving a wonderful performance without words and helping to highlight the movie's theme that commonality transcends language. "Jump Tomorrow" is a small masterpiece that I have made it my mission to make known to other movie lovers.

This is what a genuine love story should be all about. I was amazed I had never heard of this film and how truly good it is. The writing, directing and acting are truly superb. All the characters are likable, except the obvious ones, and one seems to form a bond with them. Whether it be true friendship, love, emotions, feelings... well, this film has it all. There is great chemistry between Adebimpe and Verbeke. Girardot serves as a dysfunctional guardian angel to Adebimpe and as comic relief in scenes where there is supposed to be some tension. Although, this film is completely hilarious. Love may not be a science, but it is honestly such a complex subject to understand. Just go with the flow and watch this excellent film.

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.

Well this film I think is more about sighing than laughing...

Saw the preview of this long ago, in a lifetime before kids, and back then thought that my wife and I would enjoy this film. Finally watched it recently and for me the film held up its part of the bargain.

I think some of the disappointment for this film is a bit heavy-handed for a very indie film from a first-time director. The film is somewhere between quaint and cute, and there is a time and place for that, no? The french version of Cupid was a bit trying on my nerves, but absolutely essential...and even he is given his epiphany, as are the male and female romantic interests, the initially wrongly-aimed arrows of love. They are both exotic on the outside, but all too familiar. It may be that the mute uncle says the most, but then less is often more.

Still, I think for many this film will have an appeal, as many people feel that they are on the wrong track of the wrong life at times. Having the male as the demure one also should have made this more appealing to my wife, but for some reason she did not get caught up in the film. I thought he was exceptionally well cast, and while he's probably nowhere near that awkward in real life, he certainly tapped into a neurosis as old as the Euphrates.

The Walter Mitty fantasies that George/Jorge uses for his form of losing himself worked less as comedy for me, but more as an underscoring of George's lack of ownership of his own life.

Many of the films loose ends were nicely tied together, and using Niagara Falls as the climactic setting, was a crucial cliché. Taking the plunge was well paralleled.

I see the next film from this director had him working with Dustin Hoffman, I'll check it out hopefully. But perhaps director/writer Joel Hopkins was not the indie wunderkind (or wunderBrit) I suspected. As mentioned in another review, he did license "Instant Karma" for a pivotal scene (and the words worked quite well I thought...).

Anyways that film looks like it touches on the despair and redemption of love too, so I'll try to entice my wife to watch that with me.

6.5/10 Thurston Hunger