“They’re throwing bottles at your house. Come on, let’s go break their arms.” —Henry
Today’s quick review: Henry Fool. Simon Grim (James Urbaniak), an unassertive garbageman, lives with his sister Fay (Parker Posey) and their mother Mary (Maria Porter). His life takes a peculiar turn when he meets Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), an ex-con with grand ideas and a shady past, who decides to rent out the Grims’ basement. Henry urges Simon to take up poetry, and his evocative poems soon stir up controversy in the local community.
Henry Fool is a quirky independent comedy from writer and director Hal Hartley. Henry Fool specializes in dry humor punctuated by fits of crassness and dramatic themes that become more pronounced as the movie goes on. The cast is a motley lot of losers and malcontents, including the emotionally stunted Simon, his sex-starved sister Fay, and their troublesome tenant Henry. Henry Fool has a twisted charm to it and the craftsmanship to see it through.
The movie, much like its namesake, has a knack for making terrible ideas seem plausible. Henry is a societal rebel whose grandiose ideas are perfectly convincing until they’re put into practice, when they are usually revealed as dubiously effective and deeply antisocial. Under Henry’s tutelage, Simon transforms into a controversial poet whose notorious work makes him a local menace. Henry’s effects on the other characters are no less catastrophic.
Yet Henry has a strange sort of nobility about him that makes him a compelling character. Despite being a repulsive, self-interested, and unrepentant man guilty of terrible crimes, he has a sort of perverse charisma that the movie uses to great effect. Henry’s twisted character, the Grims’ attempts to stay afloat, and Simon’s quixotic quest to get published form the foundation for an unusual but intriguing comedy with fascinating ideas.
However, Henry Fool makes for a niche pick. Its wry black humor lacks the accessibility of other comedies, while its flippant portrayal of everything from sex to suicide is bound to turn off many of its viewers. The story also veers in odd directions, spanning the course of years as Henry works his way deeper into the Grims’ lives. The resulting is a sprawling movie that’s driven more by individual incidents than an overarching plot.
Watch Henry Fool if you’re interested in comedy that’s offbeat, perverse, and somewhat melancholy. The movie achieves its unique vision of an enigmatic stranger and a dysfunctional family, but not everyone will like what it has to offer. For the right viewer, Henry Fool will be a clever and inventive watch. The wrong one will find it utterly unpalatable. For a quirky coming-of-age comedy with less explicit content, try Lady Bird or Rushmore.
7.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for fascinating characters, creative ideas, and a peculiar mix of comedy, drama, and coarseness.