A time-travel movie may not be the best choice for a first review, but I caught The Tomorrow Man on Showtime Beyond, and would recommend it, even for those who man not be fans of time-travel (I am).
The bullied 10-year-old son (Brian) of a loving but hard-headed and becoming-increasingly-abusive 1970's father ( a weight-gaining Corbin Bernsen of L.A. Law), is kidnapped and transported 30 years into the future (present day), with the father grabbing onto a government agent in pursuit. The kidnappers? A gang led by the boy's 40-year-old self, a notorious criminal wanted for "death penalty trials" in 7 states, who wants to take the boy further into the future to rescue him from the "to become even more abusive" father, whom he blames for his criminality. The boy, of course, bonds with his older self, and is ambivalent regarding which direction to take.
This is a serious movie, but with much humor. The time-travel is handled very well, campy and tongue-in-cheek, poking fun of itself and the weekend-long debates we've all had on the subject. The female agent is at times hilarious, hating the father for having sired/raised the son who that same day murdered her lover, appropriating the top-secret time-travel device. (sample dialogue: Father, inquiring about the device, "How does that work?" Male agent, "That's classified. If we told you we'd have to kill you." Female, "I'll tell him." )
I would highly recommend this as a "treat your kid right/don't abuse" movie, done very, very well, with the time-travel as a unique way to present that theme. Corbin Bernsen does an very believable job portraying a very hard-headed, stubborn, yet loving father -- to say more would be a spoiler (which I'll add WAY below my second set of pictures). I thought the boy did quite well with what he had -- he's portrayed as a little "too wimpy" (beyond realism), but then he didn't write the script. I don't know the name of the boy -- there isn't much to be found (go ahead, try); actors listed in the ending credits whom I cannot find at IMDb are Dwayne Gamer, D.K. Kelley, and Adam Sutton. There is also a Stevie Johnson with one listing at IMDb, too old to be Brian.
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