Slowing Down in Singapore
Following receiving news of his brother's death, Gerry Devine (Aidan Gillen) heads to Singapore to deal with his brother's affairs, including the bar business which he ran. Gerry soon meets various people who were part of his brother's life, a very different life to the one he has back in England where his marriage is on the rocks due to his wife's infidelity. As Gerry sets about dealing with his brother's affair he finds himself torn by the life he could have for himself in Singapore and the one which waits for him back in England if he returns home.
Before watching "Mister John" I didn't find a lot of reviews about the movie and many of those were incredibly brief. That is always an ominous sign because it tends to mean that either the movie is bad or made for a very specific sort of audience. Well in this case it is the specific sort of audience as "Mister John" is a thinking man's movie, the sort where there is no real action, not a great deal drama but a character that has issues and the entertainment comes from getting to know and understand that character. And whilst I have to say that "Mister John" didn't do a great deal for me the subtle performance from Aidan Gillen was good as just an eye movement or even lack of it conveyed so much.
But for me "Mister John" ends up a very slow going movie which because nothing much happens and we get scenes of Gerry slowly thinking back to the mess which is in England becomes hard work. It is frustrating as it is nicely shot on what I imagine was a moderate budget and I think the storyline has potential but the slow nature of the movie turns from being luring to tedious and testing.
What this all boils down to is that "Mister John" is a movie for a very specific audience who get more from the quietness of a movie than from the drama. For me it ended up too slow for my liking and that caused me to drift far too often.
