Uncle John

There's a lot to like about this movie.

Its deliberate pace will alienate some viewers. Others will appreciate the artful way the back-story is unveiled and the lack of up-front exposition. The performances are all excellent, but John Ashton steals the show as the title character. The direction and photography are fantastic as well.

I found the structure interesting, and was surprised at the some of the choices that were made. Many films follow different story lines and bring them together for a definitive conclusion. In Uncle John, the two story lines do pass by each other but they don't merge. And after their brief meeting, they go their separate ways.

I found the story following Ashton's character to be the more interesting to of the two and I believe a movie could have been successfully made using that storyline alone. Still, this film works and I will definitely check out Steven Piet's next.

If you do enjoy Uncle John, I would give this film a try:

Small Town Murder Songs- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1429392/? ref_=nv_sr_1

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.

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.

John Ashton is one of those supremely gifted character actors that constantly find themselves in movies not quite worthy of their talents. The litmus test is this: Search through Ashton's film resume here on IMDb and find movies you've seen that he's starred in. His wide-eyed, wizened face has been endearing you longer than you may realize (his most famous turn has got to be as Judge Reinhold's gruffly sardonic mentor in "Beverly Hills Cop"). His comedic delivery is often so dry it crackles.

This makes him the perfect find for the title role in director Steven Piet's surprisingly engaging, often very funny thriller "Uncle John." The film begins with John hauling away and burning a body in one of his fields on his rural Illinois farm. The victim turns out to be a guy named Dutch who (from the vitriol spouted by almost everyone in the small town) people despised --- and even more so when he found religion and embarked on the not-too-smart idea of going from door to door and "apologizing" for his past sins.

Piet and co-writer Erik Crary's script is rather bold in its execution however, because it doesn't just stick with John and his quietly engrossing story. The writers ping-pong constantly to another plot revolving around John's nephew (Alex Moffat) and a co-worker he's tentatively courting (Jenna Lyng) at a small commercial ad agency in Chicago. For a good part of the film, you'll wonder what the hell this plot has to do with the A-story, but after a while you won't care: Moffat and Lyng have such an electric chemistry and their dialogue is so real, so drop-dead funny at times, that it's just a joy to watch (the B-story actually does provide a lot of insight into John's character, though it's not really needed thanks to Ashton's skill).

It's one of those two-trains-speeding-down-the-track-rolling-right-for-each-other-type scripts (think "No Country for Old Men," though not on that scale, obviously). And of course there's a time bomb at the collision point, and quite a menacing one, in Ronnie Gene Blevins, who plays the dead guy's angry, redneck, slightly-psychotic younger brother.

It all comes together because of Ashton, however. As per usual, he conceals virtually everything he's feeling, but in that cunningly transparent way that lets you into his subconscious --- whether you want to be there or not. He tells you everything you need to know about his life, his dead wife (who Dutch was snaking), and his sense of morality without saying much at all. It's all in that face and those eyes, which have just gotten more expressive with time.

"Uncle John" also gets the look, feel, and cadence of rural Illinois stunningly right. The diner scenes with John's daily cronies (Don Forsten, Gary Houston, and Matt Kozlowski --- all worth mentioning) are priceless and not just in non-condescending accuracy. They're a wonderful Greek chorus. And Alex Moffat's dry-ice deliveries recall David Spade at his sharpest.

It's not a film for the impatient, but there's a mother-lode of riches in that there brush fire.

This actually won an award? Of course, (for cinematography?!) at a small film festival where there isn't much going on. This film is basically about not much. Something about a murder? Maybe. We assume it's a murder but there is no evidence since the film opens with an ambiguous scene. And perhaps the whole film is ambiguous. It's never clear if the opening was a murder, it's never clear to Danny if his brother was murdered. It appears more like Dutch, the town's bully, was depressed and wanted to atone for his misdeeds and doesn't happen upon Uncle John but commits suicide and Uncle John covers it up. The lake was dragged and nothing was discovered. The lead suspect was a dead end. Ben's relationship with Kate is ambiguous. Is it romance or friendship?

This film spends most of the movie in limbo, not going anywhere. Like a sailboat with no wind, in dead calm. Ambiguous relationship/romance, ambiguous murder/suicide, ambiguous uncle (he has a hidden side), ambiguous writing, and more. Makes for a below average movie. It's one redeeming quality is the fairly good acting. John Ashton does a solid job of acting (not award-winning but quietly understated) and the young Ben and Kate (Alex Moffat and Jenna Lyng) are charming and have good chemistry. It has interestingly good intentions but just doesn't cut it. It's like the protagonist of the film, the youthful Ben, who is unsure of many things. It lacks confidence and closure. But it tries.

Which for me is tragic, since I tend to favor independent and international films, rather than the standard Hollywood fare. But this admittedly does not come close to many good films out there. If you skip this movie, you wouldn't miss anything. Real rating? anywhere from 4.7-5.4.