Mister John (2013) Reviews

• A dreamy and enigmatic character study

  Trev2013-12-01

  A dreamy and enigmatic character study about a man who flies to Singapore to wind up his dead brother's affair but finds himself coming adrift. Gerry (Gillen) is a man whose marriage is heading for the rocks and a visit to his dead brother's family and hostess bar in Singapore brings him into contact with a decadent, ex pat' world that starts to fit him too well. The film plays somewhere between an Antonioni and the wonderful yet under-rated Peter Bogdanovitch film Saint Jack. The bar scenes while stylised feel truthful and affectionate, and the film has some powerful moments - a scene where a bar girl interview becomes a template for a disintegrating marriage is both original and uncomfortable to watch. Gillen is cast against type and has really worked his way into the character who loses himself through the simple act of wearing a dead man's clothes and walking in his steps. I notice one reviewer seems concerned with nudity in the film - there isn't any to speak of, so those seeking titillation look elsewhere.

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• Could have been much more

  soranamicooper2016-09-01

  This film has an interesting theme and the potential to be much more than what it is. The central character arrives in Singapore after his brother's death there and, over the indeterminate ensuing period, dreamily drifts into his dead brother's ex-pat life - staying with his family and floating around the seedy bar he ran - while having nightmares/flashbacks about his problematic marriage back home. So, the breakdown of a marriage on the one hand and bereavement on the other. Rich ground for exploring human feelings, yet I didn't really get a sense of his (or affected others') pain or any soul-searching to make sense of his situation. A good drama seldom neatly resolves all the key 'dramas', centring instead on the human condition and the nature of relationships. This film attempts to do that, but the lack of character development makes it difficult to identify with the protagonists and to be moved by or care much about their plight. The actors make a decent fist of a narrative that sometimes wants for coherence (not all scenes/subplots seem relevant or in some cases are underdeveloped) and the largely insipid dialogue, which, with few exceptions, reveals little about the characters and their motives and needs some attention to lend them greater depth. The overall effect is of a potentially relevant piece of work made somewhat prematurely, before the authors had really decided what story it was they wanted to tell or how best to tell it. Despite the score, I'd be tempted to give it a second chance some time to see if I was just being unreceptive.

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• Searching Analysis of a Complex Central Character

  l_rawjalaurence2013-12-05

  Set in Singapore, MISTER JOHN has a straightforward plot: Gerry Devine (Aidan Gillen) travels to Singapore to find out what happen to his dead brother, the proprietor of Mister John's bar. He encounters various people including John's wife Kim (Zoe Tay), his daughter-in-law Isadora (Ashleigh Judith White), and John's best friend Lester (Michael Thomas), and while doing so discovers something about John's life, which seems to Gerry to be idyllic, unlike his own life back home in London, where he has experienced marital difficulties with wife Sarah (Molly Rose Lawlor). Despite numerous opportunities to carve out a new life, Gerry opts instead to return to London. Directors Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy create a claustrophobic world of interior and Singapore night life - a suitable backdrop for a penetrating study of Gerry's indecisive character. Tormented by memories of the past, he cannot make up his mind in the present. The camera focuses intently on his facial expressions, suggesting that he is somehow imprisoned by his nature. On the other hand we can see why he should think like that - even though John had carved out a good life for himself in Singapore, the world of seedy bars, nighttime pickups and one-night stands does not seem in any way idealistic. Modestly budgeted yet sympathetically photographed with an eye for color both in day and night sequences, MISTER JOHN is an unexpectedly haunting film.

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• Lost in a sea of grief we each need to find our own way out.

  face-819-9337262014-02-04

  Touching, and sad, but there is a lot of hope. This was a very well written, acted, and directed movie, that is scored masterfully. Mister Gerry is still quite a mystery to me at the end of this very sad, and personal journey. I felt that we were being shown a very good man who was now at his life's very crossroads, and this is where he gets to decide which way to go next, but who is as torn as anyone would be. Some parts of this movie were so hard to read. There is a point where Gerry is literally tripping balls, and it is difficult to tell as the viewer which of these things are really happening. Very artistic direction lets you feel as though you can just slip away from the characters in the story at anytime. In the end I did quite Enjoy this movie, and would recommend it to people who like it when movies make them have to think. This is certainly not for everyone, it is a good meaningful drama, riddled with sentiment, and strange misdirections. However if you know loss, then there is a lot to relate to in this movie, and it just might be for you.

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• 'Mister John' is a clever film, and a very subtle one too.

  dipesh-parmar2013-11-23

  Husband-and-wife team Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy return with their second film 'Mister John', starring Aidan Gillen as Gerry. He's had to travel to Singapore because his brother John had an untimely death. Gerry has never been to see John in Singapore before, and in turn never met his wife Kim (Zoe Tay) and teenage daughter Sarah (Molly Rose Lawlor). The title of the film refers to the name of Johns bar, which Kim now has to run on her own. Gerry seems to have enough problems of his own, not least his dwindling relationship with his wife and daughter. Its an excuse that Gerry takes advantage of, the distraction of foreign climes and John's demise are at first enough to keep him occupied. He thrives on taking on the responsibility of standing in for John, he even wears John's clothes. Kim keeps her grief in check too, mostly to lessen the pain on her daughter. 'Mister John' is a clever film, and a very subtle one too. This beautifully shot film could have gone down many routes, but instead paints an opaque picture of a mans struggles within himself. Little is known about a lot of things, and you can't help but ask a lot of questions. Why had Gerry not seen John in such a long time? Why has his marriage broken down? Was John's death an accident? Is there more to John's business than we are shown? Who is Kim, and can she be trusted? None, and many others, go unanswered. Rather than become frustrated by any lack of closure, you're fascinated with Gerry's passive acceptance of his troubles. Gerry does slowly reveal his impotence and vulnerability, issues which plague his relationship with his wife and brother. Its an incredibly subtle performance from the excellent Aidan Gillen, you witness a man who has finally come to terms with loss, and by doing so breaks down whatever wall was stopping him from moving on.

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