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Henry Poole Is Here
R1 - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (13th April 2009). |
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The Film
 I’m typically a little leery when any film is positioned as faith-based, even more so when it’s rated 'PG'. It isn’t that I don’t feel as though they can be good films; I just prefer to not be saddled with a ham-fisted message preaching to me from my home television. The problem I find is that most films that revolve around even a shred of a religious basis often try too hard to lobby for one side over the other. I feel that it’s important for film’s to send a message, but filmmakers need to remember first and foremost that I’m watching a film for my own personal enjoyment and entertainment, not to be reminded of how much the baby Jesus loves me or, on occasion, hates me.. Thankfully, "Henry Poole is Here" is not that type of film. The makers of the film have wisely chosen to avoid positing their religious beliefs in favor of giving viewers the opportunity to come to their own conclusions, though there could be an argument made that there is a slight bias at play here. Regardless, this is not a film that forces you to reconsider your own personal faith, or lack thereof, but rather it leaves you with the notion that perhaps things can change simply by faith alone without the crutch of religion to hold it up. The film opens with Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) purchasing a home, but rather than work on knocking down the price he prefers to pay whatever the seller is asking. You see, Henry is something of a nihilist with little to say to others. He doesn’t want the place repaired; he just wants to move in his meager selection of belongings and be left alone. When his realtor (Cheryl Hines) decides to have his home re-stuccoed without his permission, a stain shows up on the wall which his neighbor, Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), believes is the face of God. As she continually carts over members of her congregation, along with her priest (George Lopez, giving a subtle, dramatic performance), Henry is also dealing with his neighbor Dawn’s (Radha Mitchell) daughter, Millie (Morgan Lily), who enjoys recording his conversations from her backyard. When Dawn learns that the root of Henry’s attitude problem is that he was diagnosed with a terminal disease, she tries to get him to accept that faith may be his only answer during these tough times. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Luke Wilson than of his brother, Owen. Luke has given some amazing performances playing flawed characters, most notably his turn as a suicidal tennis pro in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenebaums” (2001). Wilson sinks deep into the role of Henry, a despondent man who, presumably, had a successful life before his diagnosis, now reduced to wallowing in his own misery. Henry moving into his new home is akin to a dog crawling under some porch to die; he wants to go somewhere he can be anonymous and wither away in private. He begins the film as a man of little faith, and he doesn’t end it with much more, but he allows himself to open up just enough to accept the possibility that sometimes miraculous, unexplainable things can happen. Adriana Barraza does a wonderful job as Henry’s nosy neighbor, Esperanza. I initially hated her character; she’s your typical religious fanatic who feels the need to impose her beliefs on others. But then I realized that she was just another person who had felt loss in her life and turned to religion to provide a level of comfort. She provides the perfect counter measure against Henry’s nihilism, but she never succeeds in turning him entirely, a point I found to be a great relief since most films would have forced Henry to eventually see the error of his ways. George Lopez also turns in a strong supporting performance as Esperanza’s local priest. Lopez is known for his comedy, but many would be surprised to see he can play a real, dramatic character. Director Mark Pellington has a stylish manner in which he shoots this film. Since this is such a slow-moving film that requires viewers to fill in many blanks on their own (a fact I really appreciated), Pellington wisely chose to imbue the film with some fantastic shots. Little changes to the standard camera work help certain shots to stand out a bit more, such as his sporadic use of crane shots. Pellington had previously directed “The Mothman Prophecies” (2002), another slow-moving film with some stylish camerawork. I think that the wisest choice Pellington and screenwriter Albert Torres made here was that they force the audience to think about what they are seeing. Nothing is spelled out in great detail here, from the religious views to Henry’s disease. Both principle crew members know that they are riding a fine line by making a film based on faith and religion, so rather than fill in all of the gaps for us they give us the necessary information to come to our own conclusions. Not enough movies are made that employ this device, and I feel that the film is much stronger than it could have been for it.
Video
The film is given an anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen transfer which looks incredibly sharp and vibrant. For a standard definition DVD, the film looks very clean, with minimal grain, and colors are lush and lively. I didn’t expect much to be honest, so it was a welcomed surprise to see how good the presentation is here.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is the main track here. Aside from the film’s few musical selections, this is a very subtle track. This is a dialogue-heavy front-loaded film and the track is plenty loud enough that nothing is too hard to hear. Optional subtitles are included only in Spanish.
Extras
There isn’t much provided in the way of extra features but we do get an audio commentary and a brief making-of featurette, along with a couple of music videos and some bonus trailers. The audio commentary with director Mark Pellington and screenwriter Albert Torres is a very lively listen. They discuss the how the script came to them, the original title (“Stain”), some of the film’s deleted scenes (which, oddly, don’t show up on the disc at all) and what aspects of the film felt autobiographical to director Pellington. If you enjoyed the film at all, this track will help to fill in some of the gaps. I just can’t believe that with so many deleted scenes discussed none of them appear on the DVD itself. “The Making of Henry Poole is Here” is a featurette which runs for 15 minutes and 48 seconds. Not much information about the production is gleaned from here that most viewers couldn’t have figured out. Coming off as typical EPK fluff, everyone is interviewed about how great it is to be making this film and what it means to them personally. It’s isn’t bad per se, it’s just bland. “All Roads Lead to Home” music video runs for 3 minutes and 31 seconds, this is followed by “Henry Poole is Here” a music video directed by Mark Pellington and performed by myspace theme song contest winner Ron Irizarry (that was a mouthful) runs for 3 minutes and 41 seconds. It’s pretty stylish for a terribly generic song. It is presented in 2.35:1 letterboxed widescreen. The film’s theatrical trailer runs for 2 minutes and 21 seconds, and is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Bonus trailers for the following DVDs are provided: - “Traitor” runs for 2 minutes and 2 seconds. - “Sleepwalking” runs for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. - “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth” runs for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Overall
With its heart on its sleeve, and a simple message, "Henry Poole is Here" is a light film with some great performances. Those afraid of anything faith/religious based need not worry here; nothing is beaten over your head. The film leaves you with a good feeling and, I’m sure the filmmakers are hoping, a more open mind.
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