Henry Fool

United States

1997

137 Min

Color

1.66:1

English

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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EXEC Keith Abell, Jerome Brownstein, Larry Meistrich, Daniel J. Victor

CAST Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, Parker Posey, Maria Porter, Kevin Corrigan, Liam Aiken, Miho Nikaido, James Saito, Gene Ruffini, Nicholas Hope

SOUND Daniel McIntosh, David Paterson

Cannes (In Competition): Best Screenplay, Toronto (Special Presentations), Karlovy Vary (Forum of Independents), London, Rotterdam (Main Programme), Mar del Plata (Retrospective), Mill Valley

Synopsis

Socially inept garbage man Simon is befriended by Henry Fool, a witty roguish, but talent-less novelist. Henry opens a magical world of literature to Simon who turns his hand to writing the ‘great American poem’. As Simon begins his controversial ascent to the dizzying heights of Nobel Prize winning poet, Henry sinks to a life of drinking in low-life bars. The two friends fall out and lose touch until Henry’s criminal past catches up with him and he needs Simon’s help to flee the country. –IMDb

Director

Hal Hartley

Hal Hartley, Jr. (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, writer, and pioneer of the independent film movement, who was educated at the State University of New York at Purchase.

Hartley graduated and moved to New York City in 1984. He shot his feature film debut, The Unbelievable Truth, in 1988 and remained extremely active in the years that followed; producing feature films like Trust, Simple Men, Amateur, and Flirt. Unlike most feature film directors, Hartley also continued making short films, many of which have been collected in a DVD anthology.

His films were often noted for dialogue that was simultaneously philosophical and humorous. In the early 90s, he often composed and performed the music for his films under the pseudonym Ned Rifle. —wikipedia

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kampton

17Sep11

Deeply moving from beginning to end. The final scene is one of my favorites in film.

rorydean

3Jan11

Fabulous film with fantastic artful and poetic dialog that rings true and gives the film a kind of charm that many character studies struggle with and ultimately never fully realize. Thomas Jay Ryan does such a remarkable job with the character of Henry Fool that this film requires multiple viewings.