Going back to back on the movie reviews, I had high hopes for Henry Poole Is Here. I'm a fan of Luke Wilson and had this pegged as a heartwarming movie about hope. Instead I found a slow moving, highly predictable movie which left me feeling more bitter than hopeful.Luke Wilson plays the titular Henry Poole, a depressed man who buys a house in a bad neighborhood, planning on drinking away the last days of his miserable life in solitude. When a stereotypical Catholic neighbor sees the face of Jesus in a stain on the side of his house from a bad stucco job, she sees a miracle and he finds his solitude continually interrupted by holy rollers. You can easily guess where it goes from there.
This is supposed to be a movie about faith and hope, but is really a contrived perpetuation of stereotypes. The stereotypical religious nuts who want to see a miracle. The stereotypical atheist who is angry at God because of some bad events in his life and thinks of the religious people as fools. The stereotypical single mom next door who just needs some attention and to feel loved. There is really nothing of substance in this film.
The deal breaker for me, however, is centered around the image of Jesus mysteriously appearing on a wall. I certainly believe in God and miracles, but the notion of Him or anyone else appearing on a wall, a tortilla, a cheese sandwich, or anywhere else is preposterous and I found it very difficult to sit through. It's idolatry, plain and simple. What is more absurd and pathetic than a group of people gathering around and worshipping an inanimate object, hoping it will solve all of their problems? And this film just propagates that fabrication. It really made the movie almost unwatchable for me. Stay away from this one.
5 comments:
But seeing Joe Peshi face in a Russet Potato...now that's got to be a miracle!
I'll grant you that and the Abraham Lincoln shaped potato chip, but those are the only miracles I will recognize.
Luke's one of those actors for me that equates to "risky" when it comes to the quality of his movies. He is pleasant to watch at times, though.
I'm actually pretty fond of both Luke and Owen Wilson and will watch pretty much anything either of them are in. To me, both of them are very funny, but more of a subtle humor, not the annoying over the top style of Jim Carey, Robin Williams or Will Farrel. I don't know what it is about the Wilson brothers, but just like there are guys who I can't stand but can't quite put my finger on exactly why (I will hate Tom Brady until the day I die), there is something more to them than just the humor that I can't quite put my finger on that makes me like them. As a matter of fact, if I was going to pick somebody to play me in a movie it would be one of those two, followed by Jason Bateman that someone else mentioned and I think could pull it off.
If you missed Luke in this film the first time around and are looking for a break from typical Hollywood films, I encourage you to check out the recently released family version of Henry Poole.It was such a great story about a real life guy who was struggling with his faith and accepting it. This is something that I've been struggling with myself for the past couple of years. It was such an encouragement to see this played out. And it's really cool that I've found a site, http://www.henrypoolebelieves.com. Right now it looks like they are giving away 10 copies of the movie for free. If you haven't seen the movie yet, or even if you have, you could always give it to a friend, but it's definitely worth checking out! A GREAT film for a FAMILY movie night!
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