by Frank Calvillo
One of the most hit and miss forms of cinematic storytelling is the dual-plot narrative; the act of telling two stories simultaneously within one film and having them converge together at a certain point to work as one complete and unified tale. For my money, Alfred Hitchcock accomplished this best with his final film, the light comedy/mystery Family Plot, telling the story of two distinct and desperate couples whose quests for fortune link them together in the kind of seamless way that only the master could pull off. Despite having some Family Plot-like elements to it, the indie mystery Uncle John sadly belongs in the miss category.
Uncle John opens on the titular character (John Ashton); an elderly gentleman who finds himself in front of a dying man on a lake. When the man in question dies, John goes to great lengths to dispose of the body and clear up any traces he was ever around. Back in town, John acts as if nothing has happened, laughing and joking with friends and going about his business. It isn’t until the man’s younger brother Danny (Ronnie Gene Blevins) comes to town looking for answers, that John finds he has reason to worry. Meanwhile, John’s nephew Ben (Alex Moffat), a graphics design artist in Chicago, finds himself attracted to his new supervisor Kate (Jenna Lyng), who has just moved from New York. As their attraction continues to grow, Ben decides the timing is perfect for a visit home to see his uncle John.
The reason the two stories contained within Uncle John don’t really work together is because they’re simply too different. It’s not exactly easy, or fair, to make an audience jump between two different tones, and essentially genres. The sweetness of Ben and Kate’s burgeoning romance alongside the gloom of uncle John’s predicament is simply too jarring. Meanwhile a lack of substantial quality time with either movie makes things feel less than what they could be as individual films. Uncle John was written by director Steven Piet and producer Erik Crary, but it’s almost as if the two writers had their own individual scripts which they both liked, but couldn’t decide which worked better, so in the end, they tried to mash both up.
As much as the two storylines don’t work together at all, on their own, they’re actually quite good. I loved the idea of an older male protagonist who has lived his life in the same small midwestern town who finds himself in a situation that could destroy everything. A character like uncle John brings an undeniable reflective quality to the situation, which is usually hard to find in the younger protagonists usually found in these types of films.
The romance in the city plot works pretty well too, filled with a gentle humor such as Ben jokingly using almost an entire roll of paper towels to clean up the coffee Kate accidentally made him spill. Both characters are interesting and I loved how organically their relationship went from friendship to romance. It helps, of course, that Moffat and Lyng have some pretty great chemistry going, making their scenes together a true pleasure to watch, even if the movie they’re in falls way beyond the parameters of the genre Uncle John is claiming to be.
There’s plenty of other elements which work in the film’s favor. The scripture reading opening the film is interesting as is the stunning cinematography. Featuring gorgeously shot sunset imagery along desolate roads, Uncle John has a true, strong sense of place. Adding to this is some of the greatest camerawork and sound I’ve seen and heard from a low-budget film in quite some time.
Also helping out Uncle John immensely are the film’s four main characters, each of whom are giving their all to the project. The standout of the group however, remains Ashton who imbues John with so much emotion and fear, in spite of having the most dialogue-free role of the cast.
While the final scenes were playing out, my mind jumped to a variety of theories regarding some of the mechanics of the plot. In the end, I had decided on one which explained some of the key events and characters in a way which I felt was interesting, and made sense as well. Due to the film’s abrupt ending, I’ll never know whether or not my theory was correct, but I hope to death that I am. Otherwise, everything that came before, simply wasn’t worth it.
The Package
The most notable extra on hand is a small featurette entitled Explaining Micro-Budget Filmmaking to Your Mother, in which Crary and Piet literally recall the tale of making Uncle John to their mothers.
The Lowdown
An admirable effort in the romantic thriller genre that is neither a triumph, nor an embarrassment.
Uncle John hit DVD on January 12th, 2016 from Kino Lorber.
