Henry Poole Is Here is a movie that asks all the big questions and then, weirdly, wrecks itself by offering puny answers.
A deadpan black comedy (initially) that deals with issues of faith, love and hope, Henry Poole Is Here stars Luke Wilson as a man intent upon drinking himself to death in the same suburban neighbourhood where he grew up. All he asks is to be left alone with his anger and sorrow, but no such luck.
Henry Poole buys a rundown house in which to retreat from the world. Before he moves in, his busybody real estate agent has the exterior redone. Smack dab in the middle of the new stucco is a water mark, which Henry regards as shoddy workmanship. His religious neighbour Esperanza (Adriana Barraza) sees the mark somewhat differently -- she immediately identifies it as a miraculous manifestation of the face of Christ.
Poor Henry. The guy just wants to be left alone, but now his garden is under siege by the faithful, many carrying flowers and candles. Additionally, Henry gets visits from a mysterious little mute girl (Morgan Lilly) who lives next door. She doesn't speak, but she records other people's conversations. Turns out she has a beautiful mom called Dawn (Radha Mitchell).
And then there's Patience (Rachel Seiferth), the myopic cashier at the supermarket where Henry buys his booze. She insists on talking to him and making reference to his obvious state of sorrow. Poor, poor Henry -- he'll never be left alone.
Henry Poole Is Here has a lovely first hour, full of promise and humour and just the right touch of pathos. Henry reluctantly engages with the human race, slowly relinquishing his loner stance to befriend Esperanza and fall in love with Dawn. He rambles around in his own childhood, too, visiting places he knew as a kid and remembering his dysfunctional family. Despite some clunky scenes it's engaging and often dream-like; then, following a Saint Bob Dylan song on the soundtrack that's like some dark harbinger of all things self-conscious, the storytelling goes due south.
Henry Poole Is Here winds up by getting all serious and 'spiritual', insofar as spiritual might be defined by, say, a pre-Vatican II nun with a good heart and a grade school education. That kind of spiritual.
But maybe a viewer should have been suspicious in the first place, with characters named Dawn, Patience and Hope (Esperanza) littering the landscape.
Henry Poole Is Here is a movie about faith, just not the kind you might have in a movie audience's intelligence. Too bad, particularly as the film has the sort of appealing performance from Luke Wilson that shows you what this actor can do. When he's not doing My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Vacancy or Blonde Ambition, of course.
(This film is rated PG)
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