Monday 29 August 2022

Tomorrow Morning - Review

***


Music, lyrics and screenplay by Laurence Mark Wythe
Directed by Nick Winston

Certificate -   12

104 minutes, 2022



Samantha Barks 

Last seen on a London stage some 12 years ago and having amassed a number of productions off-Broadway and elsewhere around the globe Tomorrow Morning, Laurence Mark Wythe’s musical about a couple’s falling into love, marriage, parenthood and subsequent break-up makes it onto the big screen.

Charting the doomed relationship's ten-year lifespan, Wythe’s tale is in many respects a fusion of The Last Five Years melded with Kramer vs Kramer, albeit based in London rather than New York City. But it is not just the Atlantic Ocean that separates these anti-love stories. Both of the American plotlines offered far greater emotional heft in their narratives together with wittier and more perceptive writing in screenplay and lyrics. Wythe’s songs are heavy on exposition, demanding little intellectual connection from the viewer and too often revert to cliché.

The film’s production values however are gorgeous. Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks are Will and Cat, the ill-fated lovers and both make fabulous vocal work of Wythe’s compositions. There is also a strong debut from Oliver Clayton as the couple’s young son Zachary who gets caught in his parents’ crossfire.

Nick Winston has helmed a beautifully filmed love letter to London, and to Wapping in particular. There are even cameos from Omid Djalili (in the bath) as Will's dad and the incorrigibly scene-stealing Joan Collins (in full The Bitch mode) as Cat’s protective grandmother Anna.

Crack open the prosecco and chocolates and you’ll be in for an evening of finely sung entertainment.


In UK cinemas from 9th September and on DVD from 17th October

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