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Movies / Upcoming / Henry Poole Is Here
Henry Poole Is Here

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Henry Poole Is Here (2008)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:32

Rotten:52

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Full of Hallmark-truisms and pop songs presented with strained significance, this comic foible intends less to convert than to preach to the choir.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for thematic elements and some language.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Aug 15, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $1,749,146

Synopsis: For a man who seems to be living a perfect life--comfortable, engaged, full of opportunity--the discovery in a routine doctor's checkup that all is not well prompts Henry Poole to flee. He finds... For a man who seems to be living a perfect life--comfortable, engaged, full of opportunity--the discovery in a routine doctor's checkup that all is not well prompts Henry Poole to flee. He finds himself alone in a new house and a new place, somewhere where perhaps he can try to escape the fate that he has been dealt. It's a house in a working-class suburb with neighbors who welcome him, or at least try to; he finds them rather unattractive, frankly, but fine for his purposes. But life won't let him alone. His neighbors' intrusions, the discovery of a "miracle" on a backyard wall, and the attentions of a little girl with a tape recorder disrupt whatever hopes he had for hiding out. Director Mark Pellington revisits Sundance (Going All the Way played at the 1997 Festival) with a very personal work about devastation and the need to find yourself. Inspired by Pellington's own loss, Henry Poole Is Here is a work that is soul searching in the best sense of the word. Poignant, yet acerbic and funny, it tells us about faith, the vagaries of life and death, and personal salvation. Powered by a resonant performance from the remarkable Luke Wilson, Henry Poole Is Here is full of small moments and meanings that make it a memorable film. -- © Sundance Film Festival [More]

Starring: Luke Wilson, George Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Radha Mitchell

Starring: Luke Wilson, George Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Radha Mitchell, Adriana Barraza

Director: Mark Pellington

Director: Mark Pellington
Screenwriter: Albert Torres
Studio: Overture Films

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Reviews for Henry Poole Is Here

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Henry too often seems like a suffering cipher rather than a real guy with real problems.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/18/08
Robert Abele
Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The further the characters venture into the mystic, the more the movie itself seems to dissipate.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment 1 Comment
08/22/08
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's too uninspired to be inspirational.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
08/14/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Wilson plays disillusionment convincingly, the supporting cast (especially Barraza) is golden, and director Mark Pellington has just the right touch to bring off a teary-eyed inspirational drama.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/18/08
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Even with its failures, Henry Poole Is Here takes on material that very few filmmakers even attempt. For that reason alone, the picture deserves respect.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
08/08/08
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

At times you feel as if you should raise your arms and shout "Hallelujah" or "Amen!"

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
08/21/08
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

There may well be a market for simple-minded, high-budget tales of Christian redemption; if so, Henry Poole should do very well at the box office.

Full Review Source: Playback:stl | comment Comment
09/19/08
Sarah Boslaugh
Sarah Boslaugh
Playback:stl

Henry Poole Is Here is a movie that asks all the big questions and then, weirdly, wrecks itself by offering puny answers.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment 1 Comment
08/22/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Sober discussions give way to a clumsily handled finale that doesn't stand a prayer of satisfying most discerning viewers.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
08/16/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

A deeply spiritual movie about miracles, hope, love, and living in the present -- one of the best films of the year.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/14/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Despite an excellent performance by Luke Wilson and a promising start, Henry Poole is Here ends up an overindulgent misfire. [Blu-ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
01/13/09
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

If ever a movie pushed my cynicism buttons, this one was it...

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/14/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Divine intervention notwithstanding, the box office here would ordinarily be meek, but in trying times movies about "something to believe in" tend do better than the ordinary bleak-and-hopeless fare that typically drives domestic box office.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
08/14/08
Tim Cogshell
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine

A snarky film filled with messages about faith? You better believe it.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
08/14/08
Randy Cordova
Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Henry Poole works hard to convert us, even pulling out quotes from Noam Chomsky, but it feels a little too much like a bumper sticker.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
08/14/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[This] story of retreat and redemption, while deeply personal, may mean more to Pellington than to the audience. The miraculous elements in Albert Torres's script that offer hope also strain credulity.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
01/25/08
David D'Arcy
David D'Arcy
Screen International

There's a version of Henry Poole is Here that I would've liked to see, and the painful thing is that it's not that far off from the real thing.

Full Review Source: The Cinema Source | comment Comment
09/05/08
Michael Dance
Michael Dance
The Cinema Source

Pop songs hold the skinny plot together, but a surprisingly caustic Luke Wilson is the medicine that helps the sugar go down.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
08/15/08
Robert Davis
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine

Thanks to Wilson's sympathetic performance and Pellington's restraint, Henry Poole is Here may just succeed in warming hearts and lifting spirits.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
08/22/08
Bruce Demara
Bruce Demara
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Drives home the themes in a natural and honest way that never comes off as preachy.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
02/10/09
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
 
 
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