Henry Poole Is Here

It’s a personal thing but one the most moving, satisfying movies I’ve seen in decades. The humor is subtle yet biting. The characters are well drawn and completely believable. Some say this movie is about religion. I say it’s about faith and perception more than anything else. It’s certainly addresses religion in a fresh and honest and sometimes humorous way and the story is inspirational but it’s one man’s personal journey, inside out, facing his mortality. Oh, did I mention, a KILLER soundtrack? An off the path, real hidden gem. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Luke Wilson plays a man named Henry Poole who wants to hide from life, but whose nosy suburban neighbors keep pulling him out of himself. When a water stain on his exterior wall reminds a Catholic neighbor (Adriana Barraza) of the face of Christ, she brings in the local Catholic priest (George Lopez) and others to pray at the spot, leading to one or two dubious alleged miracles. Radha Mitchell plays another neighbor with a young daughter who also gets involved with Wilson's character. Despite some offbeat and potentially hokey plot moments, the film is surprisingly poignant, coming across as more meaningful than it probably has a right to be. It's worth a look particularly for Luke Wilson fans. The DVD includes a making-of feature and two music videos as well as the theatrical trailer (a rarity on many current DVD releases!) and other goodies. There is also a fold-out insert with a note from director Mark Pellington, explaining his personal interest in the project. It's a film with a lot of hear that is clearly a labor of love.

No soundtrack CD. Only 1 disc.

The director said it best in the BD docu, "...a hopeless man finds hope". I was surprised that this film received no advertising for being a Luke Wilson film (no poster placement, strange pricing structures, limited release, etc.). I have been playing it in the store for a couple days now and it truly captivated the crowds. The film contains a nice mix of suburban visuals with an excellent soundtrack that repeatedly catches the attention of those that might only be listening. It has become one of those films that sells itself but in a good way. The story revolves around a man that is obviously extremely depressed that wants to skip human interaction by buying an empty suburban house. Instead he encounters several neighbors that end up changing his life and in the end, helping those that helped him. Regardless of the large volumes of hate one can find about this film out there (and I do mean a lot) I did not categorize this as a religious film, or an agenda film, I just saw a good emotional film filled with believers and non believers, love and incredible events. The BD quality is excellent, and was very appropriate for this film with the amount of landscapes and overhead shots. The music sounded wonderful in the TrueHD (lots of music) and special features were worth the time. The production docu is informative, as was the commentary. The selling point though is the deleted scenes. They removed over 30 minutes from the film. A great deal of the questions I have read about this film (and was asking myself while watching) were answered here. Even after listening as to why the director removed them, I strongly disagreed and felt they should have been in the movie (hence I rated it one star lower). The scenes would have made the film a great deal more believable and would not have been lagging with all of these questions about why this whole event was happening. Some nice performances, a solid BD, and a worthwhile film make the BD price here on Amazon a steal.

This film is exceptional and will leave the viewer profoundly impacted; the film deals with three big issues; Faith, Hope and Love. The lead Character has to grasp and deal with all three of these issues, and when they do, it affects all of the supporting characters profoundly. The plot deals with various personality types, and their respective reactions in dealing with life issues such as Love, on the level of "Humanity" and on the level of the "Amorous". The plot also deals with Faith, specifically Faith dealing with the miraculous and things beyond humanity's control. This film was profoundly well written and directed; the intimacy and the interaction of the characters produces nothing other than heart rendering reactions in the viewer. This film is a must see for families and is suitable for all walks of life, and will likley leave the viewer with pensive thoughts over their own life.

Fabulous! You will love this movie. I watch it often and enjoy it immensely. A very talented group of actors. You will love all of them. The director of this film is exceptionally gifted, also.. A real craftsmen at film making. Thanks, all of you, in the cast. You made an outstanding and memorable film. Of course, the writer created a very entertaining and lovely story. Let's thank him for his creativity and talent. Please buy this film. I guarantee you will truly love watching it many times over.

This is not a Christian faith-based movie, and yet the film centers around a young man dealt a cruel blow, had a lousy childhood to begin with, and who did not believe in a loving God. Henry Poole is a guy like a lot of guys who either believe in Christ but just shut Him out of our daily lives, or who do not believe at all and aren't about to start, even when life keeps kicking them down. Somehow faith, love and hope come to him, not through reading the Bible, but through those around him that he is desperately trying to avoid, but who keep on barging in, sometimes humorously, sometimes very annoyingly. Not really for young children, there are some rough spots in the movie, but as a follower of Yeshua (Jesus), I found this a moving film.

Good movie, I'll watch again

Luke Wilson plays the title character, Henry Poole. This is done with such a sense of quiet understatement that my admiration of him as an actor has been raised by seeing this film. He manages to convey a real feeling of sadness and loneliness with his wonderfully expressive eyes. All the other leading actors are strong too, and for a film that focuses so heavily on the acting, that is important. Adriana Barraza is great, as the nosy neighbour, and so is Radha Mitchell as the divorcee next door neighbour. The plot involves a stain on Henry Poole's outside wall, a stain that some people have come to believe shows the face of Jesus. This causes a lot of attention in Poole's life, which is the last thing he wants. Everyone from the local supermarket checkout-grl, to a priest, come to marvel at this "miracle." Henry Poole is sceptical. I won't go into how the film ends, but I did find this an intelligent and extremely well-made film. Extras on the DVD include filmmaker commentaries, the making of Henry Poole Is Here, and deleted scenes.

not a musical but yet it is. taking the music out of this movie would be a better time. the sound track comes with the dvd. well acted and some funny stuff. if only such miracles could happened. :)

plays this well, not so much comedy but a lovely story , i this it was a underated film of its time

Thought this was a load of nonsense. BUT my mother and sister loved it!