doug_park2001

Despite some very skewed transitions and jarring sequences in time, BOY ERASED is absolutely riveting and thought-provoking. It might be helpful to read Garrard Conley's memoir beforehand in order to follow what/when is going on in the film. Really fine acting, particularly by Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as the parents, and solid, believable character development help to make the film an overall success. While thoroughly exposing the perverse hypocrisy of fundamentalist Christian "conversion camps," BE is equally keen on showing the human dilemmas that all of its characters face.

The first half-hour or so vacillates somewhat, going around in apparent circles, but TBOEM delivers quite well in the end. This film is everything a noir comedy should be. It's satirical of many things: love, marriage, family, small town life, small town cops and police-in-general, life and mortality, younger people, and older people. Though, like most noir films, TBOEM is VERY profane, gritty, and violent, a subtle compassion and a definite moral ultimately comes through, and it avoids the pitfall of simply being tasteless for the sake of being tasteless. Fine acting by just about the entire cast, with special kudos going to Frances McDormand and Caleb Jones. Fittingly ironic soundtrack too. The one or two brief scenes which digress from the steady dark humor of the rest of the film are well-done and effective, as is the beautiful scenery and cinematography. Finally, it's extremely gripping, always making you wonder what will happen next, with many surprises.

Some of the more critical reviews have noted the various plot-holes in this film, which cannot be denied, but hey, it's comedy, which allows for more than the usual suspension of disbelief. TBOEM easily gets away with its stretches in the end.

"The Book of Henry" is definitely not for people who like taut, coherent, logical plots devoid of standard clichés. As others have noted, it's really all over the place, and its mix of silly comedy and tear-jerker tragedy, realism and fantasy, cuteness and horror, and so forth doesn't exactly pan out in the end. Still, if you enjoy films that are simply different experiences, emotionally stirring even if they require you to heavily suspend disbelief, perhaps lay it aside altogether, this film will probably prove worth seeing, and you may really love it. It certainly keeps your attention with numerous surprises and much suspense. Fine acting by Naomi Watts and just about everyone else, along with some stunning scenery of the upstate NY setting, also help this film. I am glad to have seen "The Book of Henry" and would like to give it a higher rating, but with all its issues, I just can't.