Henry Poole Is Here

Went to see Henry Poole Is Here last night, a very interesting story well told. The film raises issues worth talking about. It's also not likely receive the audiences it deserves since it doesn't feature major stars, special effects or intense nail-biting horror or drama.

As a writer I came away saying, "I wish I'd written that." The way the story is told, something like a fisherman paying out line, little by little, letting a little more line out, or like a painter laying down thin layers of line and color... Each scene leads to the next in a rational manner, even though to some extent the premise is absurd. Through the normal interactions of the characters and Henry Poole's memories, motivations are revealed and the story takes shape.

Essentially, Henry Poole is a very depressed man who buys a house that he does not expect to live in very long. It is not the house he wanted. He had hoped to buy the house he grew up in, but the people would not sell it even though he offered them any price. Henry drinks and lies around, clearly depressed in an extreme way. We eventually learn he is waiting to die from an unnamed (in the film) disease which will ravage him quickly and soon.

His Hispanic neighbor, a cheerful woman who also has experienced hurt, tries to welcome him to the neighborhood in a warm manner. In the process she sees in a stain, on the back wall of his recently stuccoed house, the face of Christ. Through her well meaning meddling, she brings a priest, some friends and still more people.

There is also a relationship built with the woman who lives next door and her mute daughter. And the checkout girl at the grocery store also notices Henry's despair and tries to encourage him. She's a nice kid with coke bottle lenses for eyeglasses, a girl nearly blind with bad eyesight.

The tension in the story arises from Henry's desire to be left alone. Wallowing in his despair as he waits to die, he resents the invasion on his space by well meaning others. Henry has ruled out hope for himself, but is constantly challenged by Esperanza and others who begin to be influenced by the events taking place in his yard, for the wall begins to bleed the blood of Christ, and miracles begin to happen.

There are several refreshing aspects of this Sundance film. First, the priest in the film is not a fool or silly caricature, but a real man who responds like a sensitive person. Not your typical Hollywood stereotype for men of the cloth. Also, the story avoids a number of cliche side paths that could have cheapened the effect of the film. There are some who will see the film as hokey. For sure there is an element of implausibility in the premise... but through a directorial deftness, the film succeeds.

Henry Poole's story is ultimately about hope and despair, and what it takes to reach the deepest part of the soul when hope is utterly lost. If you get a chance, try to see it.