Henry Fool (1998)

Weird, but in a good way

Judging from what I have read about this film on IMDb and here, "Henry Fool" is a film that you will either love or hate with a vengeance. I liked it very much, but I can also see how people could hate it. "Henry Fool" is a story that is light on plot, but is carried by its characters. Simon Grim is a New York garbage collector who lives a miserable existence with his depressed mother and his promiscuous sister (Parker Posey). However, all of that changes when Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), an ex-convict and aspiring writer, rents a room in Simon's basement and convinces Simon that he should quit his job and focus all of his efforts on writing a poem of epic proportions.

Whether you like this film or not will largely depend on how you feel about the main characters and where your sense of humour lies. This film is classed as a comedy and I found it to be very funny, but the humour is not "conventional" comedy humour. All of the lines are delivered dead-pan and their humour largely lies in their context within the film. Similarly, I loved the characters in this film for their general weirdness (and the fact that Posey and Ryan are both excellent in their roles, especially Ryan, without them this film would have fallen flat), but some other reviewers seem to find these characters to be boring and vulgar.

Overall, if you are used to watching primarily mainstream movies, then I would say that there is a good chance that you will dislike this film, but if you like to see films that are a bit difference, then this film is worth a shot.
April 16, 2008

Entertaining, kept my attention all the way through.

Once again Hal Hartley has a very entertaining movie with interesting characters. I think his characters are the strongest parts of his stories. I did like Fay Grimm a little better. I expands on the Henry Fool character even more, even though he appears in the film less. But you really need to see this one first. P.S. I love Parker Posey!! March 16, 2008

One Line Review

I know people think that Hal Hartley craps gold, but after 2 and half hours of boring, I'd have to disagree. November 29, 2007

Hal Hartley's Universe

Hartley's 7th film, Henry Fool is a dark comedy that takes place in Queens NY and revolves around the main characters who's personalities seem to fit their names. James Urbaniak plays Simon 'Grim', a timid young garbageman who lives with his depressed mother. Simon's sister, 'Fay Grim', played by Parker Posey and Thomas Jay Ryan as Henry 'Fool', an arrogant confident drifter he encounters who becomes his mentor as both share a similar passion for poetry and writing downs one's thoughts.

For Simon Henry seems to be a good and bad influence at the same time. Henry has some demons in his past that he's trying to escape from to further his career while at the same time inspiring Simon to follow his dreams. It's ironic how the story turns out and despite all the issues these characters have with eachother they are still protective of eachother. This story is really about the complex relationships of the characters and how success can affect someone and what happens when the roles are reversed.

I loved Henry Fool. All the characters were interesting. Henry was great and Parker Posey was amazing. They both had good chemistry with eachother. It was funny, bold, depressing, vulgar and satirical all at the same time. There is a lot going on this movie. It's very long and the ending is a little ambiguous but other than that it's a great indie film with heart and humor.

November 12, 2007

Henry no Foole

Heny Fool with the same cast of characters as the recent Fay Grim sets the stage for the better film. While the odious Henry is engaging, it is Parker Posey in Fay Grim that makes both films worthwhile. October 6, 2007

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