Mr. Jones (1993)

Director:

Mike Figgis

Writers (WGA):

Eric Roth (story)
Eric Roth (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 October 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Everything That Makes Him Dangerous Makes Her Love Him More

Plot:

The story about the relationship between a manic depressive man, Mr Jones, and the female doctor who...

Plot Keywords:

Bipolar Disorder | Orchestra | Psychiatrist Patient Relationship | Piano | Manic Depression

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Mr. Jones
Lena Olin	...	Dr. Elizabeth 'Libbie' Bowen
Anne Bancroft	...	Dr. Catherine Holland
Tom Irwin	...	Dr. Patrick Shaye
Delroy Lindo	...	Howard
Bruce Altman	...	David
Lauren Tom	...	Amanda Chang
Lisa Malkiewicz	...	Susan
Thomas Kopache	...	Mr. Wilson
Peter Jurasik	...	Dr. Rosen
León Singer	...	Hot Dog Vendor
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Judge Harris
Edward Padilla	...	Bellboy
Baha Jackson	...	Devon, Howard's Son
Epatha Harris	...	Peyton, Howard's Daughter

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Rastar Productions

Trivia:

To prepare for the film, Richard Gere, Mike Figgis and Eric Roth did a tremendous amount of research and studying on manic depression (now called bipolar disorder). Gere met with several people who have the disorder to gain insight and knowledge on what to accurately portray.

Quotes:

Mr. Jones: I'd like to close my account, please.
Susan: You just opened this account last week.
Mr. Jones: Yeah, I'm a fickle kind of guy.
Susan: Oh, my goodness.
Susan: Okay, you have $12,752 in your account. Do you want that in hundreds?
Mr. Jones: I'll leave that up to your impeccable judgement.

Movie Connections:

References "The Addams Family" (1964)

Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?

I don't know very much about bipolar depression, aside from reading biographies of Robert Lowell, the poet. I have to say though that Richard Gere is outstanding in this movie. It started showing on ITV2 and his performance drew me into the story- I had to watch it to the end.

It's a brave premise for a Hollywood film but "Mr. Jones" is let down by a flawed script. I was offended by the way the doctor was portrayed. Of course she was played by a stunning actress, of course she became attached to her patient- to the point of invading his privacy by looking up his friends from his time at music college twenty years earlier. Oh, and of course (SPOILER- in more ways than one) she slept with him as well. She offers to resign which keeps her from being professionally ruined – sorry, but I can't see a qualified and experienced psychiatrist falling in love with her patient, let along sleeping with him while he's still under treatment. The ending peters out as well- to suggest that they will become a couple, I suppose.

The hospital scenes are strong and moving, as is the the subplot about the young student. This could have been an interesting study of people in emotional distress. Too bad they couldn't match Mr. Jones with unsentimental and uncompromising portraits of those trying to help him.