TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

dracher Mr Beresford has taken what I consider to be his usual film making approach to this poorly adapted screenplay from an excellent and workable novel. Mr Johnson is NOT a comedy, neither does it rely upon comedic aspects in its story line. Mr Johnson is a drama, sadly robbed of its drivers.The great problem with this film is the miscasting of two leading men, and the inability of the director to accurately shape the story, and to direct the individual performances. the character of Mr Johnson, is lacking in complexity and dimension, and Mr Brosnan's work is rather like a mimicry of every British colonial character ever sent up by any music hall comic or TV sketch comedy ever produced.The basic story is heartrendingly powerful, and the false world of Mr Johnson, fueled by his childlike desire to fulfill its requirements, should be the powerhouse of the whole undercurrent of the madhouse of British Imperialism, and the blind faith of those who attempted to live up to the impossible standards of its, so called, civilization.The novel hits the gong, but this screenplay, the miscasting, the absence of storytelling and of basic theatrical direction, robs Mr Johnson of its magic.

Michael Neumann The title character in Bruce Bereford's film is a native clerk in British West Africa (circa 1923), who becomes alienated from his own people after ingratiating himself with his English masters. He likes to say he's a true English gentleman in his heart, but the color of his skin tells a different story, and for all his delusions of civilized grandeur he can't see that a civil servant is, by any other name, still a servant. There's much to admire here: clearly a lot of care and attention went into the film. But although it captures superbly the heat and light of the African veldt, the story is surprisingly dark, despite Bereford's best efforts to minimize the discomfort of his audience. The servant Johnson is made to seem entirely innocent of any wrongdoing (even after being totally corrupted by colonial British culture), and his white overlords are, likewise, not portrayed with any ambivalence. Up to a point, at any rate: Pierce Brosnan's final, chilling act of grace isn't likely to send moviegoers home in an upbeat frame of mind.

Steve Skafte "Mister Johnson" is, first and foremost, a comedy. I must say this, because it's far too light-headed to be a serious dramatic film. Although, whatever the case, I can't say it's the most compelling story. The title character (played by Maynard Eziashi) isn't as sympathetic as the script might intend him to be. He steals, he cheats, he tries his best to be an Englishman, all to much self-detriment.From a artistic standpoint, as well, this is not an especially engaging tale. Bruce Beresford has displayed a lot of subtlety in other films, but there's something about "Mister Johnson" that falls quite flat for me. I wanted to like it, because I nearly always enjoy Beresford's films. In the end, it's the performances by Eziashi and Brosnan that make this worth watching. They create characters you can get into, even though lacking a script that deserves it.

GAMERA95 Every so often you come across a film that is so accurate in it's depiction of life and the character of the people you forget it's a movie and it takes you to that place in time and you become one of the people, Mister Johnson is that film plus 100. Mister Johnson is an accurate look into the life of a man who is torn between the color of his heritage and his longing to be an English gentleman. Mister Johnson is a man who forgets his ethnic heritage and calls his own people ''ignorant'' and ''savage'' but holds the people who treat his with the lowest respect, namely the British officials and colonists in the highest honor. He is an example of the brainwashing given to many many people of color over the centuries by the Whites, making them forget who they are, where they came from, and making them have an alien thirst for white culture. But Mister Johnson is more than that..oh yes indeed. He is a crafty little man who's high intelligence gets him into trouble with the British offocials. He has a thirst for english traditions and a longing for the white man's riches and acceptance but I do not believe he even knows why. This is a great film depicting the harsh life of a man too smart for his own good in a time where his skin color and an intellect that large was the biggest threat in the mind of white colonists. Sadly this film leaves you wanting more, wanting a deeper look into how Mister Johnson came to be they way he is.