Henry Poole is Here
It follows a lot of the same formulas of your run-of-the-mill spiritual awakening movies, but “Henry Poole is Here” benefits from a lead performance by Luke Wilson that rates as one of his best and a passion in its characters that transcends many cliches.
Wilson stars as Henry, a young man with a scruffy beard and pain in his eyes who isn’t interested in arguing price with the chirpy real estate woman (Cheryl Hines) on the house he ends up buying, although his voice does raise a bit when she tells him the house he wanted to buy wasn’t up for sale. He takes the house as is, not haggling about price even though the paint job needs work and the house, quite frankly, doesn’t look worth the price he pays for it. No matter; Henry won’t be staying long anyway. When he does move in, he’s none too happy that the house has been repainted and re-stuckoed as a sort of housewarming; he wanted it as is. The job proves to be more trouble that it was worth when his next door neighbor Esperanza (a touching performance by Adrianna Barrazza)- who was good friends with the previous tenant and is a true believer- is seen marveling at the water stains on the side of his house from the renovation. She sees the face of Christ in it, a miracle if there ever was one. Henry is skeptical, and not interested in having her and others (like her pastor- George Lopez, who’s had a busy year this year- and congregation) come over and leave flowers and say prayers at his wall. He just wants to be left alone, but as time goes on, even he can’t ignore Esperanza’s passion for her faith in this sign, especially once he gets to know his other next-door neighbor Dawn (Radha Mitchell) and her young daughter Millie (Morgan Lily), who doesn’t speak, and records much of what she hears around her.
A film like this only works when the main character is surrounded by rich supporting characters, for it’s through them that the main character’s change occurs. Even when the script by Albert Torres hits on familiar territory, however, it has found a way to populate this film- directed with care by Mark Pellington (who directed the underrated “Arlington Road” back in ’99)- with interesting characters for us to become involved in. Esperanza’s pastor is a particular surprise, not for the way Lopez plays him, but for how he seems more like an intelligent and measured man more than the zealot he could have been portrayed as. A young grocery store clerk named Patience (Rachel Seiferth) has more to offer Henry than just a friendly face when he checks out. And while Esperanza seems like an overzealous believer, her heart is always in the right place, and she allows Henry some moments of reflection when he most needs it. Dawn and Millie- both played beautifully by Mitchell and Lily, respectively- offer a more conventional purpose for Henry- they give him a reason to enjoy life instead of being swallowed up in the misery of his situation, which Wilson makes us feel in a way we never would have expected except for the performance he gave in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tennenbaums.” Henry is a natural extension of that character, except with the glimmer of hope we feel by the end. Wilson makes us believe Henry’s transformation, and makes us think that maybe, when faced with such misery, we might be able to make a similar leap in our lives.
