Uncle John

source: Uncle John

John Ashton is brilliant. The close ups tell so much.

I had an Uncle John once. He was rich and he bought us things. Until... ...Well, that's family drama and I probably best not lay it all out for you. THIS Uncle John is much different. At least, I hope. Two stories collide here. One: Title Character has to deal with both one dead bully and the deceased's brother. And two: a budding relationship in the workplace. Feel these don't belong together? Yeah, I agree. But, it works, nonetheless. Both intersect as said Uncle brought up the male-half of the couple. It's well-shot, acted, made and interesting. Is it horror? Not sure. Has horror elements, though - dead bodies, murder, cover-ups, police investigations, etc. I was kinda duped, though. I subscribe to SHUDDER, a "horror" channel via my Amazon Prime membership and I get a ton of my horror via that service. This was promoted on there and I'm always keen to new (to me) scary movies. It's not really horror - well, maybe 10%. Mostly it's a drama. And comedy. The other half story involving the couple definitely has an absolute star in the making: Not-Mark Duplass. He was funny and charismatic as hell. I *could* watch an entire movie based on his comedic timing and romantic endeavors. Recommended, but be prepared for an extreme slow-burn "drama/comedy/horror." It's not for everyone, but it's still realistic and suspenseful at times. Not to mention, Not-Mark Duplass and Uncle John, himself, is worth the whole trip. *** Final thoughts: I guess the joke's old, or so a coworker told me, but when I heard it in this movie, I laughed so hard, I had to post it online immediately. It got a huge response, all-of-a-sudden and one of my biggest posts to date. Don't want to ruin/spoil it here, but suffice to say: Listen to your doctor!

Before going on to direct a whole season of "Channel Zero" and commit to some other tv-series, director Steven Piet put on the table his directional debut (also his first and only writing credit) "Uncle John" - part subtle, romantic drama and part small town folk murder tale. "Uncle John" might be lesser than the sum of its good parts, but I can hardly call it disjointed, and its strength resides mainly in atmosphere, performances and cinematography. In "Uncle John", there are two story lines evolving simultaneously, one concentrates on Uncle John himself as he tries to get through the days in his small, rural town all the while trying to avoid suspicion of murder (which he sure commited, not a spoiler at all). John Ashton provides an absolute stand out, career-defining performance. There's not a whole lot of action or dialogue in his story, with John it's just nice to be with him as he deals with his misdeeds and drives lonely around the country roads. Atmosphere's just right, careful, humble, effective & so is the cinematography, so simple and thought through that it's near perfect. At the same time, we follow John's nephew Ben as he spends his days in the big city, working as a digital designer and slowly falling in love with his new colleague Kate. More dialogue and a steady injection of romance, all to a good measure, until they go on an impromptu trip to visit Uncle John. "Uncle John" doesn't offer the substance some may expect and perhaps questions don't get answered, but the focus, for the whole runtime, is unmistakably fixed on the emotional journeys of the characters, with (can't emphasize on it enough) the absolute highlight being John Ashton and his character's subtle, contained and humble yet nuanced performance / character arc. Of course, the pacing of "Uncle John" is slow. Worth it though. When both stories join together, the conclusion doesn't result in fireworks as I was expecting, which is a good thing. I was anticipating the opposite of what happened, and what happened was so much more in sync and spirit with the rest of the movie. "Uncle John" is a quiet and subtle film, a beautiful in its own way indie drama. The goods it provides are good looks, subtly effective vibes and great performances. My rating: 7/10.

A well-written, well-directed study of a man pushed to his limits. Uncle John has suffered a tragedy, and is driven to do something about it. He's a decent man, loved by his family and respected by his community. How far will he go, and what lines will he cross, in order to make things right? The movie's greatest strength is veteran actor John Ashton, who can portray Uncle John's anguish and turmoil without a word.

Uncle John has two finely acted but contrasting storylines. It makes for a diverting but padded film that is also dull. John is played by John Ashton of Beverley Hill's Cop fame. A respected well liked handyman in a small town. John might had killed a man called Dutch and certainly has disposed of his body. Dutch was the town bully who once dated John's sister who died in murky circumstances. Dutch's hot headed brother Danny thinks John might know more about his brother's disappearance. In Chicago, Ben is a graphic designer at a media company. He becomes attracted to a new employee Kate, who he works with an campaign for a brand of yogurt. The trouble is Kate has a rule not to fraternise with fellow workers. One day Ben makes an impromptu visit with Kate to his Uncle John. Ben hopes to romance Kate while John has unfinished business with Danny. The movie's twin plot left me puzzled as I tried to figure out the connection. The film does not want to give much by way of exposition which also leaves it without substance.

Veteran character actor John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop" I and II, "Gone Baby Gone") is sublime as "Uncle John", a quiet pillar of a small farming community whose residents are blithely unaware how deep his still waters run. Deep and dark. Seems that John has lost someone dear to him. And there are those who will pay for his pain. Dearly. Alex Moffat and the stunning Jenna Lyng (a dead ringer for TV's Lisa Ling) are also quite good here as coworkers/burgeoning lovers Ben and Kate. The young couple have come a callin' on Ben's sweet Uncle John for a brief overnight visit. What they don't know about their kind and gracious host won't hurt these two. Which is certainly a damn sight more than can be said for the poor bastard who dares cross this benevolent, yet unforgiving, curious country gentleman.

The acting seemed a bit too awkward to be true. Although maybe, the truth is awkwardness. The uncle is an efficient and thinking killer but we don't see any motive for his first murder. Plus, it is known that murderers don't start at old age. So is he a long time serial killer? Should be. The bits with the lovers made me cringe, so phoney it looked. It seemed that the author could not make a film that could catch some attention without having a killer in it. I see this as amateurish but I do know some small town killers that were loved... or feared. They looked like this but have started killing in their youth. They were killing less when old.

Just a good, intense movie that had you on points and needles all the way through.

Maybe it's a good movie maybe it's not. Hard to tell as it has the worst sound editing of any movie ever. When there's dialog you have to crank volume to 11 to hear anything and when there's not, it's so bizarrely loud it actually rattles the windows. Others have noted the 'deliberate', 'slow', 'patient' pace of the movie. Short form, it's boring. Bad writing that can't or won't fill in anything and instead the 'story' relies on the audience to sort of imagine or write their own story and backstory in their heads. And of course long long stretches of sad indie music and tinkling piano keys. Dunno, maybe this blend of art-house indie mumblecore is for some people.