Review of Mr. Jones (1993) by Greg W — 05 Aug 2013

Directed by Mike Figgis (Stormy Monday (1988), Internal Affairs (1990) and Leaving Las Vegas (1995)), this is a touching but mawkish romantic drama, written by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump (1994) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)).

This came about after it's star and director looked to work together again after Internal Affairs, and they really did their homework for this film, but meticulous research doesn't always a good movie make.

Mr. Jones (Richard Gere) is a mysterious man, who turns up to do construction work for a house, and then ends up on the roof of the house, standing on the edge, wanting to fly, he's talked down by co-worker Howard (Delroy Lindo), he's assigned to psychiatrist Dr.

Elizabeth Bowen (Lena Olin), who investigates his case further. After another outburst, where he interrupts a classical concert, Bowen puts him into care, and Mr. Jones is diagnosed as a manic depressive with moments of suicidal tendencies.

But, the more Bowen tries to help Mr. Jones overcome his condition, the more she finds herself falling in love with him, which is a big no-no in her line of work. Despite a charismatic lead role from Gere, this is quite dull and jittery, it doesn't help that Figgis had trouble in the editing room with this, but he was able to get a much shorter Directors Cut done in 2006, but it does go on forever, which is a shame, as it could have made a good film.