A proposito di Henry

One of my all time favorite movies. Regarding Henry is an absolutely wonderful movie. The storyline is so well thought out and the acting is amazing from both Ford and Bening. The characters drawn you in and make you feel such compassion, both for Sarah and Henry; what would you do if you had to deal with the rehabilitation of your loved one? What would you do if you had to start from scratch? What if you woke up in your life and didn't like who you were?

In a change of pace from his usual "action" type movies, Harrison Ford does a pretty good job here as Henry Turner - a high powered, selfish, self-absorbed, heartless, cold as ice (enough adjectives?) lawyer whose life revolves around work and who ignores both his wife and his young daughter for most of the time. Henry's life undergoes a major change as the result of a shooting, which resulted in massive brain damage. Coming out of his coma, Henry can't talk or walk and has no memory of anything or anyone. He really does start from scratch; a child in a man's body. Much of the movie is then taken up with watching Henry struggle to recover from his trauma.

OK - it's pretty predictable. Point given. (Having said that, I thought the movie might take an unexpected direction when Henry discovered the letters in his wife's dresser.) Predictable though it may be, however, it was still pretty well done I thought, and offers several tug at your heartstring sort of moments that are pretty good. Annette Bening was believable as Henry's wife Sarah, and I thought Mikki Allen did a pretty good job of capturing the essence of their young daughter Rachel - her fear, her confusion. It came across. In my opinion, though, stealing the show was Bill Nunn as Bradley, Henry's physiotherapist who helps him to rebuild a life that's very different from what he had, but is also far more fulfilling.

Ford, I thought, was better as the "new" Henry Turner - recovering from his trauma and turning into a new man. As the cold Henry at the beginning of the movie, he came across to me as almost too cold - a caricature of the heartless lawyer but not quite a believable character. That aside, I found this to be an enjoyable and interesting movie to watch, and the last scene at the school really did touch me. It's certainly not good enough to attain the level of a classic, but it is pretty good. 7/10

Roger Ebert wasn't particularily fond of "Regarding Henry," because it is contrived, predictable, and sitcom-ish. And in retrospect, he's right on all accounts. But being a sucker for Harrison Ford, I had to watch Henry and I did like the movie, despite some obvious parts where scenes seem to be...well, missing. We do realize fairly quickly that this is going to be one of those "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" tales: the big, bad, dishonest lawyer who is turned into a new man. Albeit, Ford has a rough road to that reformation, via head injuries, a coma, physical therapy, etc, but we can see it coming a mile in advance. However, "Henry" boasts some touching moments, at least for me. When Henry begins therapy, the therapist asks the once-prominent lawyer to pick out the triangle from among some blocks. Although we don't see Henry's choice, we hear the therapist's encouraging voice: "Close. I'll give you a hint, that's not it." At that moment I couldn't help but wonder how desperate a situation it would be if someone I loved was there, struggling among rectangles and circles. Annette Bening and Ford are both intelligent actors who succeed in their roles, however underwritten they may be. But I wondered how probable certain situations were: Would Henry automatically love his wife because he's supposed to? What about their money problems?? Too many unanswered questions, but still worth a spin.

Henry Turner (Harrison Ford) is a ruthless successful lawyer in New York City. Who lives with an beautiful wife (Annette Bening) and his smart but sad young daughter (Mikki Allen). When Henry simply wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes but he gets shot in the head, which brings Henry's high profile life to a stop. Henry lives from his gun shot wound but he has to start all over again. Since he has no memory at all. Henry finds help from a male nurse (Bill Nunn), which makes life fun for Henry by making him walk and talk. When Herny goes home with his family, the friends Henry once knew turns their backs on him. Henry learns the hard truth from his previous life and starting all over again as a complete stranger.

Directed by Mike Nichols (Closer, Wolf, Working Girl) made this dramatic often funny and touching film. Ford brings one of his best roles and it is also quite moving in this. Bening is equally good as his understanding wife. This wasn't quite success, they were expecting at the box office. But it did played well on video. "Regarding Henry" is one of those films, who always find yourself enjoying over and over again. John Leguizamo and James Rebhorn appears in cameos. Screenwriter:Jeffery Abrams (Now credited as J.J. Abrams), who wrote this film appears in a cameo as a delivery boy. Which Abrams is best known for being the creator as such television shows like "Alias" and "Lost". (****/*****).

I survived a serious skydiving accident in December of 2011. I 'came too' in a trauma center with no memory of what had occurred and the majority of my life. One of the major injuries was a brain bleed from a fractured skull with a Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. Learning everything from scratch has been a long tough road. I owe so much to my family that chose to stick it out with me.