Henry Fool

The central theme of what is possibly the best film made in America in the '90s ABOUT America in the '90s -- that the transition from the mainstream to the original is plagued and diverted by cultural roadblocks that auto-translate the original into the mainstream, in effect creating a society that caricutarizes itself at every step -- is ironically and tragically played out in the viewer comments to this film. It is apparently impossible for an American audience to distinguish the mentality or temperament of a character or an event from that of a film itself as a structural entity. It is furthermore difficult for this population to distinguish the "intellectual" from the "pretentious". The brilliantly created web of major, minor and medium characters -- from the fad-driven publisher who is loathe to "digitalize" books to a mother and sister who laugh hysterically at the idea of Simon becoming a poet -- fit perfectly and organically into a society where the internet can instantly make something that personifies "fringe" (this doesn't mean that is good -- we are never given a glimpse of the poem)into readily accessible and, eventually, mainstream. I'm not sure, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to be positive whether this is good or bad. It is a slippery slope either way, and the ambiguity of whether Henry is running to or from the plane to get the Nobel Prize at the end made me want this almost two hour movie to last at least another couple. I am consoled by the fact that this is only my first Hal Hartley.

If you like a movie that is character driven, you'll love Henry Fool which was written and directed by Hal Hartley. This movie abounds with interesting, quirky characters. The leads, Mr. Ryan, the title character, and Mr. Urbaniak, were terrific. The plot, where the teacher/student or leader/follower is reversed during the course of the story is not unique but is presented well. The other characters, Ms. Posey and Mr. Corrigan, undergo significant development as well. I don't want to give away too much but I will say that this movie involves characters that are not politically correct and bathroom humor (literally). The movie is long but you won't notice it as the movie is rich with dialogue (listen carefully), constantly changing scenes, and as already stated well developed chang ing characters. I've deliberately avoided the plot until now because I was afraid I would say too much, but it involves a drif ter writer (and much more) Henry Fool who encourages a plain introverted garbage man, Simon, to write down his thoughts. The other characters Ms. Posey, Simon's sister, his mother, and Mr. Corrigan, thug patriot(?) are interesting as well. My thanks to all involved for a great afternoon's entertainment. Three plus stars.

Proof that famously idiosyncratic filmmaker Hal Hartley can expand the emotional and intellectual range of his often dismayingly bloodless work without compromising the skewed, life on the fringes vision that has built him a cult following. This resonant examination of friendship, fame, cultural trends, and the creative process, stars a garbage man and a mysterious bum. James Urbaniak is the socially challenged trash hauler -Simon Grim who lives with his severely depressed mother and slutty, acerbic sister in a cramped in Queens, N.Y. Thomas Jay Ryan is Henry Fool, the drinking drifter who moves into their basement, claiming to be a writer whose unpublished epic manuscript would shake of the world - if Henry ever allowed it to be published. (In fact he's talent free.) But it's Simon who becomes the literary star. Encouraged by his new friend, the trashman who never wrote before, turns out to be a natural poet, moving (and outraging) the public with the power of his words. The director packs a lot of tender heartache into the Grim household, and he presses his finger firmly on the bruised place in America where celebrity becomes its own curse. (In a great conceit, we never see of hear a word of Simon's masterpiece.) Hartley remains an acquired taste (for views with a lot of time to dine - this sitting runs about two hours and twenty minutes). But with "Henry Fool" he offers a lot to chew on.

Its not that its groundbreaking in the way it tells its story, or that its story is that unusual - its tricky to put your finger on which element makes Henry Fool so unique, but as a whole the work is very unique indeed. If i had to give you a reason why this felt so new to me, was that i'd never seen a movie entirely devoted to literature before, the power of poetry in particular. I found it quite refreshing.

Hartley has gone for an atmosphere of strangeness, a kind of artificiality which still rings true, and it works completely. Henry Fool (the character whose nature this movie is an investigation into, which takes the narrative form of his walking into the lives of a low-class suburban family, especially disaffected garbage-man and potential poet Simon) talks and behaves like what he imagines himself, which is the roguish hero of some tragic, romantic Shakespeare play, and a kind of difficult genius. But is he a genius for real? Is this "confession" he's writing, his life's work, a masterwork, or a piece of sh*t? Henry affects the lives of a small group of great characters in Simon's local neighbourhood, all drawn with marvellously light brushstrokes, and all seeming like imagined, literary beings, yet still very human. But is he a good influence or a bad influence on this neighbourhood?

I can't predict whether you'll like Henry Fool or not - all i can tell you is that i found it captivating and original to the last.

Welcome to Hal Hartley's world of the disenfranchised. The focus here is on Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), a passionate individual just released from prison after seven years, and one Simon Grimm (James Urbaniak), a simple garbageman with a seemingly apathetic view of the world in which he lives. Henry rents a room in Simon's house (which is occupied as well by his mother and sister) where he continues to work on his `confession,' the memoir he began in prison, which is actually a treatise on life that he believes will one day shake the world to it's very foundation. Expounding his passions to Simon, Henry urges him to cast off the shackles of his dreary existence and to express himself by writing down what he feels in the journal he gives him. Henry becomes the mentor, awakening something within Simon long dormant and as yet unrealized. Simon begins writing poetry, while at the same time we begin to see another side of Henry, a man unable to heed his own advice and whose quest for the life he seeks is too often derailed by his own indecisiveness and uncontrollable lusts. Ultimately, we realize that Henry and Simon are not so different from one another after all. Hartley's style bears a distinct signature, in that when his characters speak it is more than simply dialogue; it is small philosophies delivered in a mannered cadence that is engrossing and at times mesmerizing. The supporting cast includes Parker Posey (Simon's sister), Maria Porter, and one of the finest character actors spawned by independent film in recent years, Kevin Corrigan. In the final analysis, we realize that there is much more to `Henry Fool' than meets the eye. I rate this one 8/10.