Director: Steven Piet
Writer: Erik Crary, Steven Piet (Screenplay)
Starring: John Ashton, Alex Moffat, Jenna Lyng Adams, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Adria Dawn, Tim Decker
Plot: In this tale of small town intrigue, an urbanite returns to his quiet hometown on an impromptu trip as his Uncle, widely respected in town, struggles to evade suspicion of a murder.
Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Plods Along at a Snail’s Pace
Story: Uncle John starts when we see John (Ashton) trying to cover up a murder he committed, the locals are all in a buzz for the missing person in their community, in the big city Ben (Moffat) a graphic designer who gets a new supervisor in Kate (Adams) who gives him a new friend in the town as she is from out of town.
When Ben visits his Uncle John the two lives come together, with John’s secret becoming more apparent to the local community.
Thoughts on Uncle John
Characters – John is an older man that has been living the quiet country life, he has just killed a member of the community though, he has covered up his actions, which sees him trying to get on with his life, hanging out with the normal group of friends, following his own routine. Ben lives in the big city working in graphic design, he has placed himself in a company well and when he gets a new boss he can finally start to get over his last relationship. Kate is the new boss in Ben’s firm, she is new in town getting over her latest relationship too, which sees her connect with Ben after spending time with him drinking. Danny is the brother of the missing man, he does start trying to solve the case which sees him getting closer to John’s secret.
Performances – When it comes to the performances, it is hard to say anything overly bad about the performances, the problems come from elsewhere, John Ashton does show us a character trying to hide a secret. Alex Moffat brings us the character just coasting through life. Jenna Lyng Adams is the love interest that is trying to have a professional career, only she like the rest are basic with their performances.
Story – The story here follows two lives, one of an Uncle, one of the nephew as they both are getting prepared for the next stage of their lives, one has committed a murder, the other just starting out his career, but the murder will come back to haunt their relationship. The story does have one major problem, that is the disconnect between the two stories, it takes well over an hour before we even get to know their relationship to each other and just how close the two lives are meant to be. The pacing of the storytelling is horribly slow and you just feel like you are taking too much a step away from anything major that is happening in the story.
Crime/Mystery – The crime side of this film does show how one man is trying to hide a murder he committed from the rest of the community, we see how he has created his own alibi with the people in town believe what he says. The mystery does circle around just why the murder was committed in the first place.
Settings – The film uses two main settings, the first is the farm life one, while the second is the big city, one shows what people can get away with, while the other shows how people can make it better.
Scene of the Movie – From behind.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The disconnect between the two stories we are following.
Final Thoughts – This is a disappointing and slow drama which just plods along as such a slow pace you will lose interest quicker than expected.
Overall: Dull & Boring.
Rating
