Henry Poole Is Here
Tags: romantic, magical realism, flashback

Plot synopsis:
HENRY POOLE is HERE is a comedic drama about a disillusioned man who goes hiding in placid suburbia only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope. Returning to the middleclass neighborhood where he grew up, Henry chooses to live in indulgent isolation. Real life, however, refuses to cooperate with his plans. Nosy neighbors interrupt him with curious visits and prying questions. Then the situation escalates as a stain on Henry's stucco wall is seen to have miraculous powers. His last-ditch hideout becomes a shrine; his backyard turns into an arena for passionate debate about faith and destiny. Seeking anonymous oblivion, cynical Henry Poole instead finds himself right at the center of the human comedy. A modern-day fable, director Mark Pellington's new film investigates the unexpected wonders of the everyday. A faithless man finds hope. A hopeless man finds love. Whether backyard miracles are real or triggered by hope and belief, their personal effects are permanent.

Review: But veteran Mexican actress Adriana Barraza steals the show as the deeply religious and well-intentioned neighbor, Esperanza (meaning "hope" in Spanish, which is only slightly more subtle than the grocery checkout girl whose name is Patience, or the Rhada Mitchell character named Dawn).If you don't mind slow movies, Henry Poole will reward you with a story that celebrates simple virtues, and suggests that there is plenty of room in this world for kindness and charity and faith and hope.
Luke Wilson does a great job as the main character Henry Pool who suffers a terminal illness.
The story is very inspirational and the music goes well with the message being delivered.I totally agree with the previous commenter on that this film is something to be seen especially if you are interested in becoming a film maker.You don't need blood, violence, language, and screaming to make something people will remember.This is my first review on IMDb as well and I want people to experience this great movie!.
If only real life would work like that.I can just imagine some poor sap, dying of a terminal disease, watching this movie and laughing his behind off while crying at the same time.
This kind of a film is what romantic movies are for real life love: a fairy tale, a beautiful lie that makes one (not terminally ill) feel better about oneself.The acting was top notch, I liked all that character interpretations, the soundtrack was full of Dylan and U2 (can't have faith without good music, after all) and, even if somewhat boring, it was a decent film.However, for me personally, it was annoying as hell.
If neighbours in the US are like that, no wonder some people become serial killers :)Bottom line: if you have faith, watch this movie.
But it is a good example of how a film can be moving, entertaining, and just a plain good movie without promoting or recklessly using drugs, sex, cursing, and other crap like that.I commend the people involved with this project.
If you're Henry Poole, (Luke Wilson), you buy a house in a neighborhood where nobody knows you, numb yourself with booze, and wait around to die - alone.
Henry's plan to fade away unnoticed is disrupted when his neighbor, Esperanza, (Adrianna Barrazza) starts worshiping a water-stained image of Christ she sees on his stucco wall.To make matters worse, Esperanza is moved to share this miracle with her church and friends.
Luke Wilson in a very mature and refined role plays Henry Poole, a character who has given up on the future—in every sense of it.
It's just a character study."Henry Poole is Here" got a limited release having been marketed as a religious film but then failing to win over that audience.
There are so many clever things here that make this superior to other films in the genre like the fact that even half way through you're not entirely sure if Henry is dying and the fact that although you really want his relationship with the equally impressive radha mitchell to get physical, it never really does.
One plan I have is to quit the job, sell off everything, pack some essentials into a backpack, and hit the road to travel round the world, even though I know at some point I would probably succumb to whatever's sapping my life away, and at some unknown place, but man, imagine the adventure where risk is but a word in the dictionary.Or I could opt for what Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) did, buying a house with whatever available cash, binge on vodka and pizza, and live life like a recluse with doors shut and heavy curtains drawn.
He's mean to everyone, in a stage of denial and has this immense rage against the world, despite neighbours such as elderly and religious lady Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), single mother Dawn (Radha Mitchell) and daughter Millie (the cute Morgan Lily who had her 1 minute cut at fame with He's Just Not That Into You), and grocery store checkout girl Patience (Rachel Seiferth) trying their best to connect a little with him and bring him out of his shell.The crux of the story here centers around the mysterious, well, coincidental appearance of a water stain on the wall of his house, and to Esperanza, it looks like the image of Christ.
So begins the mad tussle for his sanity when he has to spurn all Esperanza and her friends' advances into his property to pay homage to their God. And to compound matters, miracles start to happen all around Henry on the people he knows, thus challenging his very core beliefs through doubt.Religious allegory aside, the theme here is primarily of hope and not giving up.
Watching this modestly pace film allows you ample time to ponder over what you would do, if you were in Henry's exact same situation.Well rounded great acting by the ensemble cast makes this one man journey toward redemption pretty engaging to watch.
I salute the director for this movie, absolutely superb, if you enjoy films with quality direction and acting like "Life before her eyes", watch this.
I know where the Kleenex are.I thought Luke Wilson did a seriously good job of playing a curmudgeon with a negative medical prognosis, but I think the story is a little lopsided in that it goes right to polar extremes for its choices.
NEVER did I see a movie star on screen; I saw real people behaving in real situations.The plot centers around a man who may be dying and wants to be left alone versus a stain on a wall that may or may not be the face of Jesus Christ and which attracts far more attention than the man wants.
I've not seen Wilson before--or if I did, I didn't want to remember it--but he too is very convincing as a fellow who believes in little but champagne, Krispy Creme donuts, and pizza.I'm Christian but can't stand to be around blatant, do-gooding, overbearing, preachy Christians, and the writer and director balanced Henry's initial desires to die in peace with the hubbub this so-called image creates.Highly recommended.
(read this before watching.) yes 1 star is pretty low, but i leave the detailed ratings to the real movie commentators i can simply tell you if A movie is worth watching or not, and if your not going to convert to Christendom any time soon i serious doubt this is A movie for you, because there is little to no non-religious-substance in this movie, yes the acting is proper and it actually has an interesting beginning, but then you soon realize that the story is A closed circle with little to no escape, and then suddenly its to late, and you wasted 2 hours of your life.Kind regards: Concerned Viewer..
After a promising beginning, with the right tones, some subtle camera moves, and a quiet modulated performance by Wilson, the film starts picking up speed, volume, and a few other bad moves that derail the entire promising premise, one that could taken the film into amazing heights, would have most likely stirred some controversy, and could have gone a long way.
Instead, this is a deadly long pseudo rock 'n' roll video that wants to be a movie.Miracles in modern day are rare, mixing this with a touch of sarcasm, a dash of silliness, and some comic actors in the right place, and we could aim very high.
I found after reading some of the reviews that many people were getting hung up on their personal religious or atheist beliefs and perhaps forgetting the experience the movie presents.
A serious indication of the spiritual immaturity of the contemporary Hollywood approach, "Henry Poole is Here" is an overall silly film with a few good moments that show the seriously botched execution of what could have been a great story.Set in a California suburb with an apparently prominent Hispanic population, Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) moves into a small house near his childhood home hoping to recapture the only time in his life that he ever felt safe.
Meanwhile, the originally dour Poole realizes that fixing to die is so hard, that one might as well choose to live.As a study on doubt, spirituality and faith the movie seriously fails, what with every character preaching at you about the wonders of faith in God as they experience His miracles.
While Luke Wilson tries his best as Poole, the plight of his character is seriously compromised by what happens to him in the end, in a twist that reveals that he may be in fact a whiny jerk who loves to stew in his own juices, and why should we care about a character like that?
Also a lack of discipline in the script and an abundance of extraneous scenes fail to keep in check the attempts at ambiguity that are at least fostered by the script for an overly compromised, "feel good" experience where a more ambiguous and thought-provoking one is required."Henry Poole is Here" has good moments of cinematography, some subtle special effects, and some good music, but it is an overall too silly and lacking in credibility to work..
Christians may like Mark Pellington's little homily about hope, but I suspect those who enjoyed his X-Files-like Mothman Prophecies will be disappointed by the lack of mystery and the surfeit of plain old preachy religiosity.Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) is understandably depressed, sad, and angry about his doctor's diagnosis that he will die soon from a rapidly-acting disease.
The rest of the film is dedicated to Henry debunking the miracles of an almost blind girl seeing and a six-year old mute neighbor girl speaking while he also shoos away the usual religious gawkers.
August is a grim time for film critics, and the feckless Henry Poole is Here is as good an example as any of why I award more low grades now than in any other month of the year.I could pray for a miracle, but I don't want the wall of my house defaced with an image of George Bush on an aircraft carrier or some such sacrilege.
But as the story continued, the music and the whole surrounding gave some hints, that something was very wrong.Great acting by Luke Wilson and as well the side characters were doing very nice job to give little bit of magic to the audience.
This is a movie about living in the present (if anything this is Zen, not at all Catholic, the basic tenet of Catholics being: suffer now, get a prize later..), about how even misguided people may have positive feelings, how death in a predominantly Protestant culture like the contemporary USA is something people are unable to deal with, how the "good neighbourhood" tradition and customs may occasionally appear empty of meaning.
If not, one could easily give this independent production a miss.Directed by Mark Pellington of The Mothman Prophecies, Henry Poole is Here keeps the story much more simpler, yet at the same time, discuss the complex inner conflicts between a man who believes he is dying soon, and how the faith of the Catholics around him makes him believed that there are miracles.Henry Poole (Wilson) bought a house in Los Angeles to spend his last days in solitary, as he was told by the doctor he is dying of some rare disease (which keeps the audience guessing, as it was not mentioned in the film.) Believed that he is dying soon, he drowned himself in alcohol and junk food, which draws the curiosity of Patience (Rachel Seiferth), a cashier in their neighborhood hypermarket.
Poole thinks otherwise, strongly believes that it is just a water stain.Millie, the autistic daughter of Poole's neighbor, Dawn (Radha Mitchell), enters the life of Poole by taping down Poole's conversation with the people around him using a tape recorder.
When Dawn strongly believes that it was the wall that makes Millie start to talk again, it changes the view and perception of life for Poole.One do not need to think too hard to understand Henry Poole is Here.
It was well portrayed on the conflicts between an atheist and one who strongly believes in God. What was lacking in the movie was what makes Henry Poole do not believed in the water stains is more than something else.
No explanation was given, which we could only see some old family photographs appears in Henry's house.Being the leading character, Luke Wilson wasn't give much chance to explore on the depressed, inner bound personality to the movie.
Though it fails as it becomes a jumbled affair with too many characters sending too many mixed signals.The movie begins with an apathetic, unshaven Luke Wilson buying a rather pricey small house in California, literally drinking his life away.
I did actually laugh in a few places, but at its core, this movie is an art film about hope, faith, the angst of human existence and the redeeming power of love.
Why when a film makes one feel like a human being, and gives one faith in miracles it doesn't get the press it deserves?
Here is just a man lost in the world, played with even more hangdog than usual by an excellent Luke Wilson, whose neighbor thinks she sees a manifestation in a plaster stain on Henry's wall.I don't remember the last time a film started so slowly and just grew and grew into something this good.
I thought this was going to be more of a skeptical movie about the way religious people fool themselves into believing what they want to believe (a little like the sentiments behind "Life of Brian").
But no, the start is deceptive, as the film progresses, it actually wants to start to make you believe that a stain on the wall of a (supposedly) terminally ill mans house is the face of god, sheds blood and has magical powers.
There was only one scene that I actually found funny and it frightened all the other 7 people in the theater and other than that I was just laughing at how seriously in love everyone was with Jesus.The low down goes like this, Henry Poole has some type of mystically rare disease that they never mentioned and he's going to die.
In this case, Henry Poole is Here attempts to force-feed you a pro-hope message, counting on the dialog to keep you ignoring the fact they filmed this movie down the street from your house in about a day and a half.
How odd, considering the film had me mesmerized with the first 30-40 minutes.In Act I, we are introduced to Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) as he seems to spontaneously purchase a suburban home from perky Realtor Cheryl Hines by directing her to avoid negotiation and repairs.
Her little girl Millie, goes around with a portable tape recording eavesdropping on her neighbor, who doesn't find it amusing, until he is told the girl doesn't speak because of the trauma caused by her deserting father who has gone away without explanation.Henry Poole has to reflect on his life and his death; he drinks a lot, something the friendly cashier, Patience, at the supermarket he shops, tells him.
The screenplay is by Albert Torres.Luke Wilson, an actor that has played a lot of comedy in his career, shows a serious side of himself, no doubt guided by Mr. Pellington to give an outstanding performance as Henry, a man that finds himself at a crossroad in his life.
He tells her "I won't be here very long." Luke Wilson is really good here, playing his character in a very low-key manner, reminding me of Bill Pullman's usual acting style.Radha Mitchell is really good as Dawn, the single mom next door who has a very young daughter who hasn't said a word since her dad left.
Truly extraordinary dramedy about a sad and angry young man (Wilson in arguably his best work to date) who upon learning he is dying, buys a home in his old childhood memory and finds himself at the center of attraction when a mysterious stain appears on his house prompting a relentless next-door- neighbor (the wonderful Barraza) to claim it as a possibly miracle : since the stain looks like Jesus Christ.
However when the house he buys develops a water stain in the stucco in the back which a neighbor takes to be the face of God, he's forced to interact with the people around him.Amusing little tale that somehow puts together all of its wild characters and makes it into an enjoyable comedy about how one person's faith affects those around him.
In fact, watching too many films like this might just TURN me into an atheist.Luke Wilson must have been fooled like the rest of us, thinking he was signing on for a comedy instead of a movie about a grieving filmmaker's religious beliefs, along with the requisite distrust of science...~NN.
Luke Wilson made a surprisingly well done acting performance, one could call that in itself a miracle(no pun intended)?Radha Mitchell character too stereotypical(just can't have a movie without a pretty mom and A blonde one at that present???).
It's about Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), a man who is living what remains of his life in a pessimistic, waiting state.
The 'something' in this story turns out to be what one neighbor -- and soon the whole neighborhood -- believes is the image of Jesus in a stucco stain on the side of the main character's house.I actually liked this movie.
Wilson over acts and churns out predictably as Henry Poole, a terminally ill, depressed and broody man who just wants to be alone.
henry poole is the feel good movie of the summer.
When I encounter a film like Henry Poole is Here, I must reveal something personal.