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      Hubert Selby Jr.: It'll Be Better Tomorrow

      2005 1h 19m Documentary List
      Reviews 84% 500+ Ratings Audience Score Hubert Selby Jr. wrote such classic American novels as "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem for a Dream." This documentary explores how he managed to succeed despite tuberculosis, money troubles and drug abuse, eventually achieving international acclaim for his edgy work. Narrated by Robert Downey Jr., the film includes rare interview footage of the late Selby, plus contributions from actress Ellen Burstyn, director Darren Aronofsky, musician Lou Reed and others. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member To make a good biographical documentary you need a subject who has done a number of interesting things and impacted a lot of people. I’m not a big bookworm, so I wasn’t all that familiar with Hubert Selby Jr. prior to this film, but he definitely fits the criteria to be a good subject for a documentary. He lived a fascinating life and wrote some important literature, including a couple books that were adapted into famous films. My struggle with It/ll Be Better Tomorrow was less the subject matter and more the presentation. I’m not sure if a lot of the film was archived interviews from years past or what, but the production of this thing is all over the place. Some interviews are just fine and look like they were filmed properly, others are shot on video with a horribly loud camera whirring in the background, and still others were shot in a room that sounded like an echo chamber. It is horribly distracting when the film is inconsistent in quality and you can’t properly hear half the interviews. So either they were shooting with whatever piece of crap camera they could find on any given day (even though these all seemed like formal sit-down interviews that could have been planned in advance,) or they didn’t film much of it themselves and this movie is just a compilation of clips shot by other people. Whatever was going on it was bad and detracted from the story of Hubert Selby Jr. which is a shame. I still found him to be a fascinating person and the movie made me want to read some of his books, but I wish It/ll Be Better Tomorrow was a little bit better today. Ranking on my Flickchart Loses to Mad Max: Fury Road Loses to The Cell Wins against Danger Zone Wins against Good Will Hunting Wins against Amour Wins against We Are the Best! Wins against Donnie Darko Loses to Toy Story 2 Loses to The Notebook Loses to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Wins against A Walk to Remember Hubert Selby, Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow ranked 1195 out of 1583 Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/20/18 Full Review walter m "Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow" is an informative documentary about the famed writer and chronicler of the underbelly of this country. As recounted in interviews with friends and admirers(including one with Selby shortly before he died in 2004), the movie details his life starting in Brooklyn before signing up with the Merchant Marine during World War II where he contracted tuberculosis.(I won't recount the exact nature of the treatments in case anybody is eating right now.) After having so many close calls with death, he decides to do something momentous with his life which turns out to be writing, having great success and controversy with his novel "Last Exit to Brooklyn." Despite that, the documentary relays his advice that you cannot get rich from writing which he did. His only problem was he put it all back in his arm with heroin before getting clean and writing more novels, eventually teaching creative writing at USC which is ironic, considering he never even got his high school diploma. Otherwise, Selby's personal life could be summed up in three wives, four children and twleve grandchildren. The first I head of Selby came with the movie version of "Requiem of a Dream" which I remember watching the last section through my fingers; it was so intense.("Last Exit to Brooklyn" is available on DVD! Now, I'll have to finally get around to seeing it.) And the documentary does a very good job of showing what is so distinctive about Selby's writing through a couple of examples. That's not to mention his continuing appeal to European filmmakers which is also similar to how the works of Charles Bukowski and others are received. That leads to my only serious issue in this otherwise fine documentary that only displays Selby's works in a vacuum, as if he was the only one writing about the down and out. He wasn't Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A really nice documentary on one of my favorite fiction authors, the film looks into Selby's incredibly difficult childhood. Getting an inside look at his life helped me quickly understand why his novels were filled with some of the most disturbing things I've ever read. Thankfully, the film was made soon enough to include a good amount of interview footage with Selby himself, which is nicely fleshed out by the unique perspectives of his friends. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Hubert Selby, Jr. is my favorite writer, and a person who I have always found fascinating. Through a series of interviews and brief references to his work, this documentary captures his unique essence quite well. Emotionally engaging and intelligently put together. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating look at the life of the author of 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' and 'Requiem for a Dream' Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good documentary Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Hubert Selby Jr.: It'll Be Better Tomorrow

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Hubert Selby Jr. wrote such classic American novels as "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem for a Dream." This documentary explores how he managed to succeed despite tuberculosis, money troubles and drug abuse, eventually achieving international acclaim for his edgy work. Narrated by Robert Downey Jr., the film includes rare interview footage of the late Selby, plus contributions from actress Ellen Burstyn, director Darren Aronofsky, musician Lou Reed and others.
      Director
      Michael W. Dean, Kenneth Shiffrin
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Dec 10, 2015
      Runtime
      1h 19m