Absolutely the worst movie.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This story was panned by some IMDb readers and most notably by the critic Vincent Canby. I, personally, found the story riveting. Faulkner likes to refer to himself as a humanist and emphasizes the "eternal verities" of the human spirit that endure beyond what common sense would deem rational. Love is Faulkner's theme in "Tomorrow". Jackson Fentry's seemingly irrational behavior towards the pregnant woman and his behavior in the jury room twenty years later are good examples of Faulkner's "eternal verities". Robert Duvall does his best at a thick southern drawl and it isn't entirely authentic but it is certainly better than Vivian Leigh's southern accent. The minimalist dialogue and music score emphasize the simplicity of the lives of these rural poor. The story is glum and that will turn off many people but the characters' very miserableness creates a contrast between their sorry condition and the most noble of human emotions, namely love. What makes this story uplifting, in the end, is the strength of Jackson Fentry's love in the face of his world's bleakness. That is Faulkner's main point.One other thing that has to be said is that IMDb made an error in the trivia section for this movie. IMDb claims that the character of the pregnant woman was Black in the original story. This is not correct. She was White in the original story. The mistake is likely due to the woman being described as "black complected" in the story. That phrase means dark haired, not dark skinned. In the South of the early 20th Century, it was against the law for a White man to marry a Black Woman and no local preacher would have married them.

Based on the 1940 story by William Faulkner, Horton Foote's screenplay captures the essence of Faulkner's vision of Deep South in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction.Robert Duvall delivers an unforgettable performance as Jackson Fentry, a humble farmer leading a hardscrabble life with his father. While serving as a caretaker at a ramshackle saw mill, Fentry unexpectedly finds an exhausted, pregnant woman at his doorstep. After playing the role of good samaritan, Fentry begins to raise the infant child delivered in his makeshift living quarters. A priest arrives and marries the couple. Shortly thereafter, the woman dies, and Fentry devotes his heart and soul to the upbringing of the little boy.The final portion of the film delivers an even greater emotional punch when the boy, named "Jackson Longstreet" after the Southern Civil war generals under whom Fentry's father served. The film's framing device is a murder trial of a man who eventually shot and murdered Jackson Longstreet. The dramatic tension of the ending comes from the selection of Fentry as one of the jurors in the trial.The film brilliantly conveys the world of Faulkner with the unforgettable characters. Sudie Bond is magnificent as the midwife, and Olga Bellin is equally stunning as the pregnant woman seeking to flee from her reprobate husband. The stunning black-and-white cinematography is especially dynamic in the lighting effects, illuminating Bellin's face during her anguished death after childbirth. Above all, the film is worth viewing for Duvall, especially his vocal characterization. It is small wonder that writer Horton Foote and Duvall became virtual soul mates in later films.

Like other reviewers, I was going to avoid this movie within the first few minutes because of its austere quality. Black and white, gritty, bare-boned filming and direction looking at awkward people in a strangely quiet way. A scraping by man that is one step away from Adam in implements scratching out a living suddenly comes by an ailing pregnant woman who he befriends and keeps alive by stretching the tight shoestring he's already living on, taut to its limit.But then, as the story unfolds, you realize it HAD to be shot in black and white; it had to have that raw, gritty quality. That's the nature of the story. That's the power of it.I agree, too, with other reviewers that if (as some of us have been theorizing) the woman and her child were written to be Black, that would bring several new levels of poignancy to every aspect of the film. And you can read that in as you watch and appreciate those nuances for yourself though they're not spelled out in the film. I also had the strange thought while watching of how great it would have been to have Johnny and June Carter Cash playing the leads, since this film was made in their heyday. But that's just me.Yet even as it is, this is a rare piece of coal that under the pressure of tough times shows itself to be a diamond. Not to be missed.

This movie predates some of Duvall's more critically acclaimed and popularly received turns, but in truth, this may be the finest acting job of his career. Duvall is this film, and he has made this kind of intense, honest character study his own (Tender Mercies, The Apostle, The Great Santini). The black and white cinematography is perfectly suited to the story and the acting. It works as a far more honest story-telling device than Spielberg's "Schindler's List." This is a must-see for Duvall fans and for fans of small, independent films as well.