Henry Poole Is Here (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / January 28, 2009

Do you ever remember feeling irrationally agitated in school upon noticing that the teacher didn’t completely erase all the lines on the chalkboard? Well, somehow, “Henry Poole Is Here” manages to evoke those same feelings.

But with the wisdom that comes with time, we realize that the teacher’s instruction was of far greater importance than our trivial annoyances.

And so it is with “Henry Poole Is Here,” a film that has a higher purpose for pulling the rug out from under us. The movie questions the merits of faith, pitting believers against nonbelievers. And we take the bait — take sides — and are willingly drawn in to the debate.

Yet the so-called lines on the chalkboard are some intentional contradictions that, at first blush, seem to have been designed to create ambiguity. Upon further thought, we suspect the filmmakers (director Mark Pellington and screenwriter Albert Torres) have succumbed to a bit of filmmaking cowardice, or fear of ultimately choosing a side.

But I’m convinced now that neither suspicion is true. As I’ve considered the film, I’ve concluded that the filmmakers were reaching for an effective way to depict how people will always find ways to reinforce themselves in their own beliefs. The filmmakers’ method of demonstrating this human tendency is subtle enough that I think most viewers will miss the point altogether, and leave their classroom only noticing the lines on the chalkboard, and not the lesson. Indeed, that very thing nearly happened to me.

Though this underscored principle of humans recognizing only the evidence that supports their way of thinking is a worthy theme, “Henry Poole Is Here” isn’t overly entertaining or satisfying.

The film’s name is a miscalculation: After encountering the phrase “Henry Poole Was Here” written several times during the movie, we already know from the title that the verb is going to change tenses, which robs the film of one of its few, potentially fulfilling moments.

When we meet Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), he is buying a house. He’s sold right away (even though it’s not the home he wanted). We can plainly see that Poole is apathetic and listless, and above all, he seems to be irreversibly unhappy.

From the start, Poole becomes an intriguing character, as does his neighbor, Millie (Morgan Lily), a six-year-old who secretly tape-records other people’s conversations and plays them back immediately. The movie draws us in by making us wonder why Poole is so sad and why Millie is so strange.

Less interesting is the side of Poole’s stucco house: A neighbor and busybody, Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), says she can see the face of Christ and calls it a miracle, while Henry only sees a water spot and calls it religious fanaticism. This back-and-forth dialogue goes on and on. Esperanza recruits many other believers from the neighborhood, and Henry — who obviously needs a miracle — only gets more irritated. If I wasn’t imagining things, I started to be able to make out a face on the wall the longer the movie went on. My wife agreed.

So having worked out my feelings for this movie through pondering it at length, I rate “Henry Poole Is Here” as OK, since it’s lacking in entertainment value. But I’ll give the movie credit for being one of the few PG-rated movies that’s intelligent enough to watch.

Directed by Mark Pellington
Luke Wilson / Radha Mitchell / Adriana Barraza
Drama / Comedy 99 min.
MPAA: PG (for thematic elements and some language)

U.S. Release Date: August 15, 2008
Copyright 2008: 333