Despite the best efforts of the cast, I laughed when I was supposed to cry and resented the hell out of the film’s force fed “life lessons.” It’s just a good old fashioned stinker. The film, which is directed by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow, is full of aggressive whimsy—both Henry and Peter wear a series of oversized hats and goggles just because—but it has a dark secret at its center: Henry suspects that next door neighbor Glenn (Dean Norris), the police commissioner, is abusing his step-daughter, Christina (Maddie Ziegler). The film is so discreet about this abuse—never showing it only training on Henry’s horrified face as he watches—that I briefly thought Henry might be wrong about it. But that would be much more interesting than anything on offer here.Her son, Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family.
In a bold (and some would call it stupid) twist, Henry dies from a brain tumor halfway through the movie, and his dying wish is for his mother and brother to conspire to kill the police commissioner - a contingency plan that he has left elaborate, prescient instructions with which to accomplish. I can't leave out that Silverman romantically smooches Henry (an 11 year old) on his death bed or that Naomi Watts exhausts a veritable checklist of everything a parent should not do.Early on there's a scene where the main characters set up a makeshift tableau just to flip off the audience, and I can't help but feel it was director Colin Trevorrow working out some misplaced aggression for stepping down (read: getting fired) from directing Star Wars Episode IX. One is never sure if her presence is ironic, but considering that the movie swerves violently into child sexual abuse, childhood terminal illness, and cop killing, it's safe to say that no one involved with the film was sure what tone they were going for.
Its story concerns a young prodigy and his family. Regardless, The Book of Henry is a movie so bad that I had to watch it twice to believe it's real, but I would not recommend that you do the same.An easy contender for the worst picture of the year, The Book of Henry is a baffling stew of nonsense mixed together with enough bizarre tonal shifts, bad dialogue, and disinterested actors to drown a Star Wars prequel. Is it a breakdown in communication between the director and the actors? Is the screenwriter subtly screwing with the script on a day to day basis? And why did no one mention to Naomi Watts that it's improper form to hold her video game controller at eye-level while playing? She's completely overextending her thumbs and could give herself carpal tunnel.
(But not before the eleven-year-old gets to make out with Sarah Silverman. Then, randomly halfway through the movie, Henry's case of "movie genius syndrome" produces a tumor that puts him in a hospital for two weeks and fucking kills him. Oh, and he builds elaborates Rube Goldberg machines because that equates "mad genius" in movie language. Therefore, Henry raises his younger brother and grows up with his mother. His mother, played by Naomi Watts, is a mostly irresponsible and borderline lazy womanchild who prefers to play Gears of War and drink with her best friend, Sarah Silverman.
But he is so disinterested here that every shot looks flat, boring, and lifeless. Now why the hell did I just tell you the "plot" of this movie? Because it's so goddamn bizarre that you would not believe how utterly retarded The Book of Henry was, if I didn't tell you this bullshit that someone actually got paid to write.Colin Trevorrow was successful in making both cute indy comedy Safety Not Guaranteed and bloated mega-blockbuster Jurassic World work wonders with extremely archetypal characters. And this is all to the backdrop of an impending grade school talent show because this is a fuckin family movie, goddamn it. Naomi Watts AGREES to this idiotic plan and does the business of preparing for the deed by purchasing a high-powered sniper rifle and practicing in the backyard, shooting literally 40 feet away from her intended victim. He encourages his mother to fucking assassinate this public official using money and instructions he has left behind. It turns out that that the chief of police next door (Dean Norris) is molesting his step daughter and our precocious child hero had uncovered the truth and was devising a plan all along.
Henry 2017 How To Better Handle
It isn't that Henry manages the family finances or takes care of meals, or even that he seems to know how to better handle the emotional highs and lows his younger brother is dealing with at school, but rather that Susan is bad at all of it. There is an immediate sense of something being off about how this dynamic between a mother and her sons came to be. That said, though the dynamic is familiar and functional (for the time being) that doesn't necessarily make it constructive. In the beginning the Carpenter clan, made up of mother Susan (Naomi Watts), genius son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), and younger brother Peter (Jacob Tremblay), are each very set in their roles and rather content with the way their lives are moving.
At first I thought this was going to be a child friendly family film, then the second act arrives and it just hits you. Bottom line is The Book of Henry doesn't seem to fully know what it wants to be, but it exists and it makes some interesting and touching statements if not ultimately pulling at the heart strings in the way that it desperately wants to.Read the whole review at The Book of Henry is an innovative drama that both brings smiles and pulls on your heart strings. And so, while the movie wants to make you feel all warm and fuzzy in its familiarity it simultaneously wants to talk about change, accepting change, and dealing with it. By default, Peter is automatically more grown-up, more aware, and more insightful due to the impressions Henry leaves on him and so when this wild ride of a movie shifts tones in one of the more drastic ways I've ever seen-it leaves a meteor-sized hole in the middle of these relationships that were never really prepared for change. Of course, while it feels as if Watts' character never learned how to be a mom in the first place the fact of the matter is she seemingly never had the chance to raise actual children-or at least kids who hold the average mental capacity of children.
Whilst these are all perfectly acceptable, the sudden changes were jarring and the tonal inconsistencies did disrupt the narrative. Then the film changes again and starts to become a thriller, whilst still tackling mature themes such as child abuse. When I say mature, I mean it is ridiculously heavy.it just hits you and I wasn't prepared for it. The problem is I can't really say too much about the last two acts (way too many spoilers), but the film changes and transforms from a family film to a more mature adult viewing. This role reversal is well explored, so I was pretty happy. How Henry, a child, is the adult and more respectable role in the family and his mother is playing video games and not worrying about financial documents.
I enjoyed his performance. Jaedan Lieberher plays Henry, he executes his lines with precision and has that sarcastic wit that a self-proclaimed genius would have. This showcases her acting chops and solidifies her as an exquisite actress. I have a little place in my heart for Naomi Watts and she was really good as the mother who's character transforms dramatically. The acting though, oh yes. Colin Trevorrow made a suitable transition from blockbuster (Jurassic World) to a smaller drama, his camera shots were clean although nothing outstanding.
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