Title:
Henry Poole is here
Year:
2008
Genre:
Comedy, Drama
Director:
Mark Pellington
Writer:
Albert Torres
Runtime:
99min
Cast:
Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, Adriana Barraza, Morgan Lily, Rachel Seiferth, George
Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Richard Benjamin
Produc.:
Overture Films, Lakeshore Entertainment, Camelot Pictures
In
Henry Poole is here, Henry (Luke
Wilson) is a deeply depressed man, who refuses to believe that on his house´s
back wall, may have appeard the image of Christ.
In his depression, Henry just wants to pay for
the purchase of his new property and to be left alone to suffer. The first
thing we know is that something bad is happening to him, but it is not until
later, that we find out what it is.
One day, Henry is inside his house, when
suddenly, looking out a window he recognizes Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), a
neighbor of his. For some reason she is in his garden, facing his patio´s back
wall. Immediately, Henry goes out to find her, moment in which he realizes that
the woman has crossed to the next door´s yard. Us, who have earlier seen her
cross herself, now see how she talks exalted, on the phone.
Henry then approaches the wall between the gardens
and in a very quiet tone, asks Esperanza what was she doing behind his house.
To respond, the woman invites him to accompany her, to what, moments later, we
have them both peering into a wall, where there is a stain.
Esperanza looks at this stain with the same awe
of someone who had just found oil. Meanwhile, Henry is sure to be only seeing
dirt. Esperanza is a very religious woman and Henry instead, a complete atheist.
For her, what is before their eyes is the face of Jesus and a true miracle, but
for Henry it is nothing.
So far, both views are perfectly respectables.
However, the situation will get complicated, when Esperanza crosses the line.
Henry, who had been wanting to be left alone,
begins to be bothered by his neighbor. Esperanza, determined to make him
understand that what is on his wall is a sign from God, again and again,
insists on showing up. First, she goes back to his house with Father Salazar
(George Lopez), and then goes back again, sereval times, with different
neighbors. All of them in need of the help of the Almighty.
At the same time, Henry meets young Patience
(Rachel Seiferth), cashier of a supermaket that he frequents, and Dawn Stupek
(Radha Mitchell) and her daughter Millie (Morgan Lily), from whom he is now next
door´s neighbor. All three will be important elements, that make the story move
forward.
One night, Millie crosses to Henry´s patio and
touches the stain. In no time she has regained her speech, inasmuch as she had
not said a word since her father´s abandonment. By the way, who had encouraged her
to go touch the wall, and knowing that Henry would not like that? Esperanza
Martinez. Now, at this point, it seems as if the world was conspiring against
him.
As if this were not enough, Patience also goes
to touch the wall, to which suddenly, the girl claims to have miraculously
recovered her good eyesight and to no longer need glasses. For poor Henry this is the last straw, and he tries for everyone to understand that these
"miracles" are nothing more than pure coincidence. Fortunate events,
which have had to coincidentally happen, right when both had just touched the
wall.
A whole community of believers end up turning
his backyard into a kind of sacred site and filling the wall with offerings.
Regardless of this being a private property, they all take the opportunity, without
anyone even considering, that one's freedom ends where another's begins. This
is to say that if Henry wanted, he could perfectly report them to the police.
The film reaches a point, where Esperanza
insists Henry on that he touches Jesus face himself, to get rid of his
depression. Henry then, rejects this possibility, still refusing to believe her.
But now with greater difficulty, since it is clear that he does that, more for
fear of the unknown, than anything else. These so-called "miracles"
that he has witness, have begun to increasingly make it harder for him to
maintain an skepticism that, anyway, he refuses to drop.
Henry Poole is here does not begin in a bad way. First,
Henry meets Dawn and Millie, and later appears the religious matter. Here, the
film has already got a main character with a good conflict, and whose only
negative thing would be all that sentimental side with his Stupek neighbors,
that might get us a little bit bored.
However, what we have in the end, is nothing
more than a great advertising movie of the Christian religion, and where the
director tells us that finding faith is how we could free ourselves of all our
suffering, and also Henry, of his. With characters trying to give us the
reasons why, according to them, it is good and necessary to believe in
something. When the right thing would have been to show the idea of religion as just a possible alternative, for
us to decide if to choose.
Here no one wants us to think about it and
choose the way we like, but rather, we are inclined to the way of faith. It is
a message that, to a large degree could offend many people.
My
rating: 3/10
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