The Book of Henry

I gave 'The Book of Henry' 7 stars, but would love to have given it more. It really is an unusual movie, and I'm not talking about the subject matter. I'm talking about the flow of the movie. It has two distinct, very different halves, separated by some moments of gut-wrenching tragedy that will have all but the most cynical reaching for the Kleenex.

The first and most enjoyable part of the movie introduces the characters - a single mum, her two sons, her good-hearted but rough-around-the edges-friend and the girl next door, who just might be dealing with some problems of her own. The movie does a good job of this and we really develop an affection for these people. Then tragedy strikes and the movie suddenly veers off into an extremely ridiculous and far-fetched plot line involving the mother and the eponymous Book of Henry. It's silly and unbelievable and if you are able to put yourself in the mother's shoes and imagine yourself acting as she does, you will agree. You just wouldn't.

Fortunately for the movie, by the time the silliness kicks in we have enough emotional investment with the characters to carry us through to the end and actually enjoy the show. Acting throughout is good. Jaeden Lieberher and Jacob Tremblay shine. The adults are good too.

It's cliched. It's dumb in places. It's moving and thoroughly engaging in others. In short, it's seriously flawed, but it's enjoyable and despite the silly second half, the ending is satisfying if, again, a little unbelievable. I'm glad I watched it.

I went into The Book Of Henry expecting essentially a kids film, I guess by the title I figured this would be something akin to Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010). I was wrong, I was really really wrong.

The Book of Henry is a masterful clever title that isn't for kids and I wouldn't even say is suitable "Family" viewing. It tells the story of a single mum with her two children, she's essentially failing at life and the eldest of her two sons (Still a little boy) is the man of the house. He's a child genius and his mother depends on him to an overwhelming extent. He begins to fear his friend next door is being abused by her father so sets about a powerful intricate plan but things don't go to plan and the whole film goes in a direction I certainly did not forsee.

A true tour de force The Book of Henry had me gripped with it's remarkable plot and strong performances, by the half way point I expected this to potentially be another 10 but sadly it fell short.

Don't get me wrong The Book of Henry is a good film, it's clever, it's witty, it's unpredictable and it's heartfelt but somewhere along the way it falls short of greatness.

It's tone is inconsistent and it would be very hard for me to narrow down a demographic, it's similiar to The Lovely Bones (2009) in it's dark overtones but oddly quaint imagery.

Well made and certainly an original piece this perhaps should have been better but regardless is a sweet little film.

The Good:

Unpredictible

Powerful stuff

The Bad:

Fails to truly deliver on its potential

Not sure Watts was the best casting choice

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Not every child actor makes me want to dive into the screen and slap them repeatedly. Most, but not all.

Naomi Watts tends to pick movies that are simply too good for her

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single mother Susan Carpenter (Noami Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman) . Her younger son Henry Carpenter (Jaeden Martell) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan's older son Henry (Jacob Tremblay), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother - and, through investments, of the family as a whole - Henry blazes through the days like a comet. Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes stepfather Glenn (Dean Norris) and Henry's kind classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler) , has a dangerous secret - and that Henry has devised a surprising plan to help. As his brainstormed rescue plan for Christina takes shape in thrilling ways, Susan finds herself at the center of it. Never leave things undone !.

A sensitive and enjoyable film with nice acting, though a bit slow, the story results to be some boring. The history blends a strange mixture of silly family comedy, melodrama, realism, suspense, cuteness and terror with uneven results. The film is acceptable and passable and the final half hour elevates it quite a bit. The family plot line is simplistic , though it has some twists and turns, and so various characters are predictable, but it is a good entertainment. Decent interpretations from Noami Watts as the protective and sensitive mother, Jacob Tremblay as the intelligent, wise older son, Jaeden Martell as the naive younger son, Sarah Silverman as the likeable friend, Dean Norris as nasty stepfather, Lee Pace as Doctor Daniels and special mention for Maddie Ziegler as the charming dancer at her big screen debut.

It packs a colorful and brilliant cinematography by cameraman John Schwartzman, as well as vibrant and rousing musical score by Michael Giacchino, both of whom are Colin Trevorrow's regulars .The picture was professionally written and directed by filmmaker Colin Trevorrow and shot in 36 days . Trevorrow is a fine craftsman , he wrote and directed "Home Base" that became one of the early viral successes on the internet. His first feature film was the succesful "Safety Not Guaranteed" and following Jurassic World (2015) this quickly became one of the largest grossing in the year because it gives audiences exactamente what they want , only more so and following this The Book of Henry (2017). Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and attractive but no notable film.

It's been a while since a trailer threw me completely. The intent of a trailer is to entice the viewer in to seeing the film, to tickle your curiosity. The trailer for The Book of Henry did this admirably. Like a magician's sleight of hand, it provided misdirection too. Having seen the film, I left thinking that that was not what the trailer implied. Hats off to  editor, Kevin Stitt.

The plot synopsis on IMDb.com, written by the distributors, Focus Features lays out the plot without spoilers:

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (played by Naoimi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay, who we last saw in Room) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan's older son Henry (Jaden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother - and, through investments, of the family as a whole - Henry blazes through the days like a comet. Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes Henry's kind classmate Christina, has a dangerous secret - and that Henry has devised a surprising plan to help. As his brainstormed rescue plan for Christina takes shape in thrilling ways, Susan finds herself at the centre of it.

This is Colin Trevorrow's second feature and he has crafted a warm, charming, sometimes despair-filled film that ultimately brings a message of hope. Good triumphs over evil in the end, as it should in most films.  

Critics have been very harsh in their reviews. Some decry being emotionally manipulated! Is that not the whole point of going to see a film? Audience reactions are more favourable.

My reaction? I cried. Twice.

A very enjoyable and competent film: 3.5 out of 5

It's a rare occurrence in which I heavily disagree with critical responses to films. I had no idea what The Book of Henry was about. I hadn't watched a trailer and I hadn't read the IMDb synopsis. Save for watching a web critic's review (which was stunningly brief in plot description), I knew nothing going into this except that it was directed by Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow, the man at the helm of 2019's Star Wars Episode IX. If I had seen the overwhelmingly negative reviews for this film prior to trekking down to the cinema to see it, I probably would have skipped out. Then again, it was either this or Transformers: The Last Knight, and I know well enough by now not to see a film with Michael Bay's name attached to it. But, here we are, I've seen The Book of Henry, and I really like it, disagreeing with the negative critical reception it has received.

It's difficult to dive too much into the plot of the film. That's not because it's hard to follow, but it fares better the less you know about it. Henry (Lieberher) is a kid genius. Inventive and constantly thinking, Henry is the man of the house. He looks out for his little brother Peter (Tremblay) at school and even provides guidance for his video game playing, picture book creating mother Susan (Watts), and going as far to even take charge of their financing. When he suspects that his next door neighbor and fellow classmate is being psychically abused by her stepfather, he takes it into his own hands to save her. And that's all I'm going to say, because the less you know the better.

I'm quite surprised by how many critics have trashed this. Naomi Watts is on top form here and carries the emotional weight of the film, and Jacob Tremblay (of last year's excellent Room) is again fantastic albeit playing a smaller role. Lieberher completely sells it as Henry and is likable as the title character. Michael Giacchino (composer of films like Inside Out and Rogue One) creates a beautiful score that fits the film perfectly, and Trevorrow's direction keeps the film afloat despite a few screenplay misfires. For the most part, the script works despite its somewhat unconventional narrative, but I found it continuously unpredictable and responded heavily to the performances, especially Watts. There are a few small misfires but on the whole, it works in its own peculiar way, and the film is beautifully shot.

Whilst The Book of Henry is certainly not for everyone, it had me from the get go. I was at first concerned with Trevorrow being the director for Star Wars Episode IX, but now I'm intrigued to see where he takes it. I'm grateful not to have known anything about this film before letting myself become absorbed by it, and I thought about it for a long while afterwards. On this rare occasion, ignore the bad buzz and give it a go.