Tune in Tomorrow
{{Short description|1990 film by Jon Amiel}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Tune in Tomorrow
| image = Tune In Tomorrow 1.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer = William Boyd
| based_on = {{based on|Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter|Mario Vargas Llosa}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
}}
| director = Jon Amiel
| editing = Peter Boyle
| producer = John Fiedler
Mark Tarlov
| music = Wynton Marsalis
| distributor = Cinecom Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1990|10|26}}
| runtime = 107 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $11 million{{Cite web|url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/58721-TUNE-IN-TOMORROW|title =Tune in Tomorrow |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films}}
| gross = $1,794,001{{cite web |title=Tune in Tomorrow |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl695633409/ |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=16 September 2022}}
}}
Tune in Tomorrow is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Jon Amiel. It is based on the 1977 Mario Vargas Llosa novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, and was released under that same title in many countries. Relocated from the novel's setting in 1950s-era Lima, Peru to New Orleans, Louisiana that same decade, it stars Peter Falk, Keanu Reeves and Barbara Hershey in a story surrounding a radio drama. The soundtrack for the film was composed by Wynton Marsalis, who makes a cameo appearance with various members of his band.{{Cite web |title=The Original Soundtrack from "Tune in Tomorrow" |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-original-soundtrack-from-tune-in-tomorrow-mw0000310664 |access-date=September 16, 2022 |website=AllMusic}}
Plot
Martin Loader works at WXBU, the local radio station, where scriptwriter Pedro Carmichael is hired. Pedro, who is known to come up with outrageous storylines that involve people in his real life, becomes a mentor figure to the younger Martin. Martin's Aunt Julia, not related by blood, returns to New Orleans after many years away and Martin falls for her. Once Pedro learns about their romance, he starts incorporating details of it into the script of his daily drama series, called "Kings of the Garden District". Soon, Martin and Julia are not only hearing about their fictional selves over the radio, but they hear about what they are going to do next.
Cast
{{Cast listing|
- Barbara Hershey as Aunt Julia
- Keanu Reeves as Martin Loader
- Peter Falk as Pedro Carmichael
- Bill McCutcheon as Puddler
- Dedee Pfeiffer as Nellie
- Patricia Clarkson as Aunt Olga
- Richard Portnow as Uncle Luke
- Adam LeFevre as Large Albanian Man
- Henry Gibson as Big John Coot
- Peter Gallagher as Richard Quince
- Joel Fabiani as Ted Orson
- Dan Hedaya as Robert Quince
- Buck Henry as Father Serafim
- Hope Lange as Margaret Quince
- John Larroquette as Doctor Albert Quince
- Elizabeth McGovern as Elena Quince
- Richard B. Shull as Leonard Pando
- Ray McKinnon as Cub Reporter
- Gladys Vega as Secretary
- Jack Wallace as Policeman
- The Neville Brothers as themselves
}}
Production
Principal photography began in Wilmington, North Carolina, on August 15, 1989. Hurricane Hugo damaged the film sets, so the production moved to New Orleans. Filming was wrapped by November 2.
The soap opera characters in the radio drama are voiced by the fictional WXBU employees. For instance, the fictional character "Richard Quince" is voiced by Leonard Pando, but is seen by the audience as Peter Gallagher.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 12 reviews.{{cite web |title=Tune in Tomorrow... (Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter) (1990) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tune_in_tomorrow |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}
Roger Ebert gave the movie 2 and a half stars out of 4, noting that "sometimes we laugh easily, sometimes uncertainly, and sometimes we just look at the screen and wonder why anyone thought that was funny."{{cite web |date=November 2, 1990 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Tune In Tomorrow movie review (1990) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tune-in-tomorrow-1990 |website=Chicago Sun-Times}} He added that though "some of the movie's best laughs come when the jaws of the listeners drop open with shock and amazement at some of Falk's more outrageous fantasies", the film's uneven comic tone remains a problem throughout the story.
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post wrote, "The movie spends too much time with the Aunt and not enough with the Scriptwriter."{{cite web |date=November 2, 1990 |last=Thomson |first=Desson |title='Tune in Tomorrow' (PG-13) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/tuneintomorrowpg13howe_a0b2b7.htm |website=The Washington Post}}
Rita Kempley, also of The Washington Post, was more positive about the film: "A tri-layered tale of love, creative impulses and dial-spinning, it comes and it goes, evocative and a little bit magical, flawed but forgivably so."{{cite web |last=Kempley |first=Rita |date=November 2, 1990 |title='Tune in Tomorrow' (PG-13) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/tuneintomorrowpg13kempley_a0a0aa.htm |website=The Washington Post}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0100822|}}
- {{Mojo title|tuneintomorrow}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|tune_in_tomorrow}}
{{Jon Amiel}}
{{William Boyd}}
{{Mario Vargas Llosa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tune in Tomorrow}}
Category:American comedy films
Category:Films shot in New Orleans
Category:Films set in New Orleans
Category:Films shot in North Carolina
Category:Films about radio people
Category:Films directed by Jon Amiel
Category:Films with screenplays by William Boyd (writer)
Category:Films based on works by Mario Vargas Llosa