Last week, we saw a preview of the new Luke Wilson film “Henry Poole is Here.” Unless your idea of a great time is reading one of those “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books, avoid at all costs. The preview looked like it might be a little hokey, but I thought “Luke Wilson – surely he’s too edgy to do corn pone”. I was wrong. The premise is that Henry Poole (the Wilson character) has the rarest of diseases. In fact, it only exists in films written by people with no imagination. It’s called “Plot Device #112″. It can be determined through a blood test, but it’s incurable, and there are *no symptoms* EXCEPT
a) the patient suddenly become too stupid to ask for a 2nd opinion and
b) the patient becomes a little bit depressed.
Add to this a mysterious stain that appears in Henry Poole’s stucco, and is determined by his grieving neighbor to be “the face of God” (which later weeps blood…), a young girl who quit talking after her father left her, and a near-sighted grocery store cashier named “Patience” and you get….a big mess.
Stephen Holden says it better than I do in the NYT.
Last night, we went to see “Hamlet 2″ – another free preview screening. It’s also a mess, but a happier one than Henry Poole. The previews looked pretty sketchy, but we like Steven Coogan a lot, and, well – it was free. It had its moments – a few things made me cackle, but…
I wouldn’t pay to go see it unless you’re really running short on things to make you laugh. Steve Coogan is wasted in this earnest, bumbling role. Catherine Keener – also wasted (in more ways than one). The big musical set-piece “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” is pretty funny, though. And Elizabeth Shue has a nice part playing herself, sorta. (She must have a great sense of humor.)
The review in today’s NYT is fairly accurate, but it’s full of spoilers, so don’t read it if you’re still planning on seeing this mishmash. (Most of the funny stuff, and a lot of the less funny stuff, ended up in the trailer, which you can also reach via this link.)
The Rest Was Silence, But Then Came the Sequel
