Tomorrow You're Gone (2012)

Absolutely amazing

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This carefully crafted film kept me awake as I watched it in the wee hours. Each character was skillfully played and kept me guessing as to what they would do next. Unpredictable and dark, I still wonder if Florence wasn't an angel there to take Charlie home. The scenes in the forests were particularly good as the sounds of nature were allowed to take the place of music. I did find the reason to be a bit unclear as to why Defoe's character needed a hit carried out, but maybe I missed something. This movie is well worth your time to view. These actors worked very well together! ... Tried to be honest without ruining the end? Sigh....

This film is driven by many things, but certainly not by plot. This is clearly intentional. The title itself is a spoiler. This movie is another one of those "The Guy" and "The Girl" movies, but it works, more or less. The girl is Flo, and the guy is Sam/Charlie, and that's about as much as we ever know about them, assuming even those names are real. I have never seen a sexy woman throw herself at a man so extremely to no effect. I found myself yelling out loud several times, "Just do it with her!" (I am married, and my wife was watching too, and I don't eat hot pockets nor live in Mom's basement.) This was very frustrating, and that alone made this movie unique. Charlie was very, very brooding and that most sexy thing of all, vulnerable, and Flo moves in on him with the intensity of a cruise missile. They hook up, and when she's not trying to have kinky sex with him, often involving her feet, she does this "Hannibal Lector" thing on him from out of The Silence of the Lambs. She's in his head, she gets vague responses from her bizarre psychoanalytical probes, and then tries to get it on with him, repeatedly. Charlie is so tormented that he doesn't even notice her sexually. This is a redemption movie, and yes, as in many movies of this type, "The Guy" dies at the end, although I found the ending to be the aspect of the move that made the most sense. There are other things in the mix, including a bare-bones plot that was actually irrelevant.I liked this movie and as others have said, it's not for everyone. It's a psychological non-thriller, so to speak. The interplay between Flo and Charlie is, in it's slow paced, quirky way, quite intense. Much of the dialogue is of the New Age variety, both from The Buddha, Charlie's criminal mentor, and Flo herself. It's all pretty obscure. So, I hope I've helped you decide on this movie. I could condense my review to be: "WTF? But I liked it." This movie is why we use Redbox religiously.

Charlie Rankin (Stephen Dorff), recently released from prison, seeks vengeance for his jail-house mentor William "The Buddha" Pettigrew (Willem Dafoe). Along the way, he meets the ethereal, yet streetwise, Florence Jane. They embark on a unlikely road trip, careening towards an unlikely redemption and uncertain resolution.Although this film had many good moments (such as the home invasion) and it is possibly Dorff's final acting to date (he has really blossomed in this role) it overall just seems too uneven and did not resonate well with me.The primary problem I had was with Florence. She was not someone I felt the audience could understand or appreciate. Why did Rankin like her? Their whole relationship is built on nothing. And yes, I understand this is a whimsical road trip without commitment... but she was just the wrong character for such a thing.And if there was a deeper message, I missed it. All that occurred to me is that Charlie Rankin has the same name as the Nazi in Orson Welles' "The Stranger". I sincerely doubt this was intentional, because trying to draw parallels is far too difficult -- Welles' Rankin is a false identity hiding from his criminal past. Rankin is this film uses the alias Samson and he, too, has a criminal past he cannot overcome. But that is it (and only works in the most vague way).The novel probably clears things up, but after seeing the film I have little motivation to seek it out.

Tomorrow You're Gone a.k.a. Boot Tracks is a Thriller that centers on Charlie Rankin (Stephen Dorff), who prior of getting released from prison gets a message from his "mentor" - "The Buddha" (Willem Dafoe) to kill somebody... But the murder goes wrong and Charlie gets seriously effected by it... meanwhile Charlie begins to have some serious hallucinations because of his past and because of what he's doing... On a way he meets these mysterious girl Florence Jane (Michelle Monaghan) who reminds him of someone he used to know and together they embark on a mysterious journey...Tomorrow You're Gone is a typical B-class movie, directed by the director of "Down in The Valley", David Jacobson and starring Stephen Dorff, who does his usual thing, Michelle Monaghan and Willem Dafoe in a small but efficient part as he gives the movie more class...I wouldn't recommend this movie to everybody, but as long as you're a fan of any member of the cast or if you like these kind of movies...then go for it, if not just "forget about it" cuz it's not worth it.PS: it's only 88 minutes long..