Tom Of Your Life: A Kooky Little Indie With A Fun Premise
Tom Of Your Life is the feature film directorial debut of writer/director Jeremy “Jer” Skylar, who also serves as actor, editor and composer (under his musical outlet The Blackstrap Molasses). A self-professed “fable,” Tom Of Your Life combines a fun premise with kooky comedy and a singular vision to create an interesting indie coming-of-age story about living in the now.
When a child is born at a rural hospital who inexplicably ages four years every hour, a rebellious nurse smuggles him out and takes him on the road to let him experience the world on the one day he’ll have to live in it.
Somewhat of a cross between Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack (with it’s rapidly aging protagonist) and a reverse Benjamin Button, Tom Of Your Life centers around a rapidly growing newborn that miraculously ages 4 years every hour. Only two hours old, at the tender age of eight, we’re introduced to the titular Tom and his unstable nurse, Jess (Baize Buzan) as she sneaks him out of the hospital via a trash can and stuffs him in her car. As we discover Tom’s inexplicable condition, we learn that the nurse has smuggled him out of the hospital to show him what living is all about for his one lone day spent on Earth. However, as we learn more and more about the rocky and rebellious Jess, who’s prone to erratic behavior and sudden shifts in mood, her motives for liberating Tom may be less altruistic than she lets on.
Of course, the naive, pre-adolescent Tom can’t see the red flags that are flying; he’s just along for the ride — which is quite literally the time of his life. As the pair embark across rural Illinois for the city of Chicago (where there’s a doctor Jess knows who may be able to help Tom), Jess makes various pit stops to show Tom what life is all about. During this phase, we see Tom cycle through several different performers (Judah Abner Paul, Joshua Paul, and Dominic Rescigno) as he hits all the major milestones of puberty, until he’s finally portrayed by writer/director Jeremy Skylar (who plays Tom from age 32 to 104). As Jess and Tom make their way, the pair are leisurely pursued by a private investigator, Carl (James Sharpe, who also produced the film), who is hired by Jess’s latest fling, Dennis (Paul Tigue), the director of the hospital Tom was born in.
What begins as a fun, charmingly odd little road film — smartly set against a fall backdrop that visually symbolizes Tom’s condition; the possibilities and opportunities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon — slowly unravels to a meandering standstill that gets lost in the city for far too long. As more of Jess’ messy and chaotic past surfaces, the breezy journey begins to become a bit of a plod as exploring her character’s past (along with Carl’s) take the forefront. The discovery of Jess’ past may give her choice to rescue Tom new meaning, but it slows the film down substantially. Luckily, once the film switches its focus from Jess and Carl back to Tom, it pulls itself together enough to reach its soft, somewhat satisfying conclusion.
One of the oddest parts of the film is how there’s very little urgency surrounding Carl’s pursuit or Jess’ attempts to find Tom once he’s lost in Chicago. Even more head scratching is the hospital director’s choice to not involve police — even when he knows there’s only a 24-hour window to retrieve Tom before he’s totally aged out. Even Tom’s aging condition isn’t given much urgency; it’s not leveraged for any tension, only comedy, which undercuts some of its potential. The comedy mostly lands though, particularly once Skylar steps into the role, but the film struggles a bit in its undulation between the serious and sentimental and the outright silly and absurd. Everything is enhanced by the film’s performances, which consistently solid Buzan, Skylar, Tique and Mike Nussbaum being the most noteworthy) and the cinematography from Christopher Rejano, which gives the film a nice visual pop (especially with the fall colors and downtown scenes).
Overall, Tom Of Your Life is as narratively messy as life itself, which works both to its benefit and detriment. However, despite its subjective flaws and occasionally frustrating moments (which are also a reflection of life), Skylar operates under a clear vision and proves he’s cable of making a well-crafted comedy on a modest budget. It’s a bit tonally uneven, which is accentuated by some the occasional awkward beat and preachy moment, but it generally sticks in the pocket and serves up some solid laughs along the way.
Recommendation: If kooky, light-hearted coming-of-age films are your bag, give Tom Of Your Life a watch.
Rating: 2.5 rapidly aging Toms outta 5.
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