Mr. Jones (1993)

(In French, On Cable TV, January 2022) If you often find professional movie reviewers obsessing over a specific film’s reason to exist, there’s a good reason for that. Knowing about Hollywood’s greenlighting process means that there are dozens more film proposals than finished films, and something always tilts the balance toward what shows up on screen. Usually money, but more often money with added purpose. By the time Mr. Jones was filming in 1991, Richard Gere (who co-produced the film) was arriving at the top of his superstardom following well-regarded performances in Pretty Woman and Internal Affairs—it’s natural for actors with that level of clout to start looking for acting showcases. He certainly gets one here, as a protagonist with bipolar disorder that gives him the chance to go from one emotional extreme to another in the same scene. In director Mike Figgis’ hands, the film turns into a slickly overproduced romantic drama that keeps the focus on Gere at all times, whether he’s going through several emotional states, cajoling a foreman, rushing an orchestra, romancing his psychiatrist or threatening to jump off a building. It’s a showy performance that overshadows a script built on contrivances and nice Hollywood sentiments—the romance between patient and doctor means that Mr. Jones could be subtitled “Medical Malpractice: The Movie,” and the pat overemotional ending rings hollow during the entire end credits. Still, credit should go to Gere: it’s a terrific performance and it does much to make us forget about the rest of the film. It exists to showcase Gere, and it does just that.