There is something contrived about this story in which people with major problems find a resolution.
Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:84
Fresh:32
Rotten:52
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Full of Hallmark-truisms and pop songs presented with strained significance, this comic foible intends less to convert than to preach to the choir.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $1,749,146
Synopsis: For a man who seems to be living a perfect life--comfortable, engaged, full of opportunity--the discovery in a routine doctor's checkup that all is not well prompts Henry Poole to flee. He finds... For a man who seems to be living a perfect life--comfortable, engaged, full of opportunity--the discovery in a routine doctor's checkup that all is not well prompts Henry Poole to flee. He finds himself alone in a new house and a new place, somewhere where perhaps he can try to escape the fate that he has been dealt. It's a house in a working-class suburb with neighbors who welcome him, or at least try to; he finds them rather unattractive, frankly, but fine for his purposes. But life won't let him alone. His neighbors' intrusions, the discovery of a "miracle" on a backyard wall, and the attentions of a little girl with a tape recorder disrupt whatever hopes he had for hiding out. Director Mark Pellington revisits Sundance (Going All the Way played at the 1997 Festival) with a very personal work about devastation and the need to find yourself. Inspired by Pellington's own loss, Henry Poole Is Here is a work that is soul searching in the best sense of the word. Poignant, yet acerbic and funny, it tells us about faith, the vagaries of life and death, and personal salvation. Powered by a resonant performance from the remarkable Luke Wilson, Henry Poole Is Here is full of small moments and meanings that make it a memorable film. -- © Sundance Film Festival [More]
Starring: Luke Wilson, George Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Radha Mitchell
Starring: Luke Wilson, George Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Radha Mitchell, Adriana Barraza
Director: Mark Pellington
Director: Mark Pellington
Screenwriter: Albert Torres
Studio: Overture Films
Reviews for Henry Poole Is Here
Even if you're not religious (like me), HENRY POOLE is an inspiring, charming little movie that is about believing. A little syrupy at times, but ultimately moving.
At times you feel as if you should raise your arms and shout "Hallelujah" or "Amen!"
Thanks to Wilson's sympathetic performance and Pellington's restraint, Henry Poole is Here may just succeed in warming hearts and lifting spirits.
One of the best films of the year. You'll laugh, You'll Cry... You'll truly appreciate life!
Henry Poole is Here is a gentle, personal film that gets great work from its cast and its unashamedly sweet messages about loneliness, hope, love and faith seem awfully brave these days.
That the film is ultimately not about whether the guy gets the girl, but about whether the guy will be able to make peace with his past and go on to live the life he deserves, is pretty remarkable in itself.
The movie is certainly flawed, but if you're able to suspend disbelief for the spiritual premise and can appreciate quiet little character-driven films where not much happens, you can do worse than this innocent and often lovely film.
After several genre films, Pellington goes back to his indie roots with a personal, semi-effective spiritual fable about the vagaries of life and death and the healing, redemptive powers of love.
A deeply spiritual movie about miracles, hope, love, and living in the present -- one of the best films of the year.
A film that Christians will embrace, if only from sheer gratitude; here, at last, is a depiction of Christian faith as something other than the domain of cranks and loonies.
One of the few really appealing features that have come along during this summer's movie dog days. Here's a film that actually tries to tell a story and tries to say something substantive instead of just blowing things up or going for the cheapest joke.
Sincere, relentlessly somber parable about a severely depressed man whose self-imposed suburban exile is upended by a familiarly-shaped stain on his wall.
Even with its failures, Henry Poole Is Here takes on material that very few filmmakers even attempt. For that reason alone, the picture deserves respect.
If you're a sucker for a New Age-meets-old-time-religion tale and you have nothing else to do this weekend, then this one's for you. Everyone else should stay home.
Drives home the themes in a natural and honest way that never comes off as preachy.
Latest News for Henry Poole Is Here
April 27, 2008:
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