VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Claysaba
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
evileyereviews
This is a story of a whirlwind force of character that blusters in and transmogrifies a community for both good and bad. In doing so, the essence of the neighborhood is somehow brought to engender the truth of being, and to simply live life through experience, eschewing society's rules of proper conduct. In doing so, a caricatured world is created that seems pleasantly larger than life in order to express some greater deed. The result is brilliant. The characters are quirky and disturbingly fun, largely unbelievable and yet endearing in a unique fashion. The dialog was memorably sensational, with Henry Fool leading the pack with his celebrated utterances. The direction was the culmination of Hal Hartley's greater experience rolled up into one amazing flick. AS well, the camera man was unobtrusively masterful, using the tricks of the trade with subtle wit. Both painfully direct and wickedly humorous, Henry Fool ends with the same symbolic mastery of his awe-inspiring entrance. Merci beaucoup.Genruk of Evil Eye Reviews
jzappa
What if the mentor who gave you success turned out to be the worst writer you've ever read...and was counting on your newfound influence? What if he married your sister? What if his ego was as big as Montana and at the same time as fragile as glass? How could you ever repay him? How could you ever resolve these questions? Ask Hal Hartley. Or see his movie.This independent seriocomedy opens by studying a generally bungling garbageman named Simon Grim. He soon makes perhaps the first friend he's ever made in his life with Henry Fool, a sharply droll scoundrel, though a failure as an author. Henry's giant ego, what with his delusions of literary genius and grandeur, not to mention his comparison between his pedophilia and that of Socrates, justifies his wily, prose-like lines. Henry incidentally exposes Simon to the life of literature, who then writes a profoundly staggering poem, as we judge by the reactions of all who come across even a few lines of it. As Simon is swept up on his rise to the prestigious apex of the most talked-about underground poet in the world, Henry's own endeavors at recognition merely bring about unpleasant dismissal by the very publisher who commits with Simon to issue his already legendary poem.Hartley is a very personal filmmaker. I particularly like a director whose film is entirely owned by him or her, especially one with an unlikely extensive running time like this one. Because his script is entirely his own, and created from scratch, he has actors suggest more than they divulge. Simon is a great poet because of how socially bound he is, never speaking or changing his expression and thus always looking inward, much like great poets have, like Rilke for instance.Hartley wisely doesn't show the poem or the "confessions" over which Henry has long toiled. Whether they are good or bad depends on the histrionics of the outside story. They are almost the classic mystery items in so many thrillers and pulpy crime pictures, but to a much superior effect. They are not subsidiary, but vital.
Ddey65
As a native New Yorker, I tend to be drawn to movies and television shows shot in either the 5 Boroughs, and/or Long Island. I also have the occasional appetite for independent films, and don't mind movies starring total unknowns. But none of these factors have ever made me a fan of Hal Hartley's movies. Believe it or not though, an IMDb user suggested that fans of Christy Carlson Romano watch a copy of this one, and I've been appreciating it ever since.Simon Grimm(James Urbaniak) works as a nerdy put-upon garbage man in Queens, NYC, who still lives with his promiscuous sister Fay and depressed mother(Hey, don't laugh. I know of people with better jobs who still can't afford homes of their own), who rents a room out to people whenever they can. Along comes Henry Fool(e), who invites himself into his family's rented room. Fool(Thomas Jay Ryan) is an ex-writer who passes himself off as an iconoclastic lover being persecuted by both the masses and "the man," partially because he had a regretful fling with a 13-year-old girl at one point in his life. Henry Fool IS a fool, because he's convinced that he and Grimm are somehow cut from the same cloth, and encourages him to write down whatever is on his mind. After some spelling and grammatical corrections, Fool does everything he can to expose this writing to the public, which is denounced as obscene by some and brilliant by others. Hartley does the same thing to Simon's story as Quentin Tarantino does with the glowing briefcase being retrieved by Vincent Vega(John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield(Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction. He also puts his characters through different stages in their lives, like Warren(Kevin Corrigan) who starts out as a street thug having public trysts with a girlfriend and attacking Simon for seeing one of them while he's trying to do his job, to supporting far-right anti-immigration political candidate Owen Feer(Don Creech), to becoming a low-life wife & child abuser.Contrary to popular assumption, events *do* take place in Hartley's movies -- obscure stars get surpassed by total unknowns. In "The Unbelievable Truth," the biggest name in that movie was Jeff Howard, who's better known for his role as Joe Ferone in Up the Down Staircase. Then Adrienne Shelley replaced him as the biggest name. Likewise in "Henry Fool" the biggest name from this movie was Parker Posey, and now it's Christy Carlson Romano. In Romano's case, however, her fame came from her work on Even Stevens & Kim Possible, not because of her very non-Disney performance here, which proves to be crucial to the direction of the story. And all I'm going to reveal about that is that parents who's kids are fans of KP and/or Ren & Louis Stevens will be very surprised as to how far Warren's stepdaughter Pearl is willing to go to end her suffering, and let you figure the rest out for yourself.
fliphop
I'm going to update this film review, being much older now. here 12 years later. Hartley should remake the film from the girl's point of view. you know. the 13 year old one that the guy has underage sex with (i.e. statutory rape). the one that doesn't even have a name in this film. its really really ***** up . i want to know about her life, not this guys life. in fact i don't know if i really like this movie as much as i once did. it is not exactly sympathetic to the guy... he is not the hero. but then again. i just ... i want to know how her life is, i don't care about his life. ***** him and ***** his life. -----------well, what is the point of this review. i reckon i will tell Hal Hartley and everyone else that worked on this movie was good for me to see.i mean i cried and cried and cried when the mom died, and other places. i know people like these characters. i am like these characters. when i see them up there, it gives me precious visions and dreams of myself and the people i know. these dreams and visions are among the most powerful and positive things in my life, i believe.the movie is about people, poverty, depression, mental illness, love, marriage, sex, babies, death, hate, violence, community, fear, anger, cowardice, forgiveness, art, and courage.i mean for chrissake the main title character is an adult out of prison for having sex with a 13 year old girl, which makes him a pedophile and a statutory rapist. the movie is about him and how he lives after that.compare it to other Hal Hartley: you got a weird fascination with porn, male heroes with extremely questionable, evil pasts, not sure how dangerous they are, anti-social hateful ranters who cant seem to fit into the whole 'job for money' thing, police in dual role, as destroyers and oppressors, but also as caring helpers, part of the community,incredibly odd off hand meetings with supposedly insignificant and unimportant people that in fact become the most important most significant most influential characters in each others livesoh yeah, and this movie has more to say about the internet than i have ever learned in my years of studying computer science.
