Henry Poole Is Here (Blu-ray) (2008)

"One of the best films of the year. You'll laugh, you'll cry...you'll truly appreciate life!  Clint Morris, MovieHole
"A large part of the movie's appeal can be attributed to Wilson, more dour than he's been in ages and yet more interesting, too.  Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
"A strange and thoughtful little movie.  Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle
"A spiritual and heartwarming love story that will lift you up.  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...a fairly serious examination on the nature of, and necessity for, faith.  William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Editor's Note Director Mark Pellington (THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES) wrings a miracle from a stucco wall in HENRY POOLE IS HERE, a kind, minimalist tale of finding faith where you least expect it. Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) is a dying man with a mission to spend his final days alone. He relocates to a sparse home in a rundown suburb and makes fast friends with a stash of vodka bottles, but the solitude just won't stick; every neighbor on the block wants to befriend the newly arrived curmudgeon. Most persistent is Esperanza (Adrianna Barrazza, BABEL), an energetic woman who comes to Henry's house to salve her own tragic connection to it, but stays when she sees a stain on the wall that appears to be the face of Jesus. Despite Henry's pleas (and angry missives) to the contrary, word of the miracle spreads, and the solitude-seeking Henry is soon under siege: Esperanza brings by her priest (played by George Lopez); recently divorced Dawn (Radha Mitchell) shows up with Millie, her silently emotive little girl (Morgan Lilly); and even a prying grocery store clerk makes a visit to the world's least likely shrine. With each passing pilgrim, the conversation about hope and the renewing properties of belief grows louder, until even Henry cannot resist being moved. He may not yet accept Jesus, but he just may begin to accept the message of love. What Pellington leaves ambiguous about the "miracle" of the stain he makes up for with a resounding celebration of the miracle of human connection and the uplifting power of compassion. All the characters in HENRY POOLE IS HERE have pasts that could lead them to drink themselves into an early grave, but in the end, they each mine their misery for deep stores of faith in humanity.

	Radha Mitchell
	Adriana Barraza
	Luke Wilson
	Rachel Seiferth
	Cheryl Hines
	George Lopez
	Morgan Lily
	Mark Pellington - Executive Producer
	Lisa Zeno-Churgin - Editor
	Wendy Chuck - Costume Designer
	Albert Torres - Screenwriter
	Norman Reiss - Executive Producer
	Michael Aguilar - Executive Producer
	Eric Schmidt - Director of Photography
	Richard S. Wright - Producer
	Richard Hoover - Production Designer
	John Frizzell - Composer
	Eric Reid - Executive Producer
	Gary Lucchesi - Producer
	Gary Gilbert - Producer
	Tom Rosenberg - Producer
	Tom Lassally - Producer
	Mark Pellington - Director

USA Today
"Anchored by Luke Wilson's engaging performance, POOLE is often affecting....[With] material that Hollywood has shied away from: the nature of faith and the existence of miracles." 08/20/2008

Reel.com 6 of 10
Faith is a funny thing. What other aspect of one's life demands so much and yet typically yields such fleeting pragmatic rewards? Conviction is usually couched in terms of a higher power but we also demand belief in ourselves and in our fellow man. In fact, what's clear about faith is that it penetrates far too many facets of our lives or at least that's what Mark Pellington wants us to see with his quirky character dramedy Henry Poole is Here. While our hero is having a hard time facing the realities of his fleeting existence, his neighbors are more than willing to throw aside common sense for a glimpse of God's hand...There are two different Mark Pellingtons on display in Henry Poole is Here. One is the MTV mastermind who brought Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" and Silverchair's "Tomorrow" to life. This Pellington plies his trade throughout this minor movie's frequently moody montages. Whenever our characters need to have a moment of contemplation, a track by The Eels comes pouring out of the speakers, accompanied by carefully photographed suburban vistas. This Pellington is purposefully oblique, leaving the viewer unable to make proper connections or figure out the meaning of things. The other Pellington is the man behind such films as Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies. This director deals in faces and facts, the camera closing in on his actors so they can deliver their big picture pronouncements while crying on cue...Truthfully, the best thing one can say about Henry Poole is Here is that it is a religious film where theology is barely recognizable. Some of the characters would call this a miracle. Audiences will find it slightly less extraordinary. - Bill Gibron

The Onion A.V. Club 6 of 10
Luke Wilson sleepwalks through the early stages of Mark Pellington's portentous drama Henry Poole Is Here with a haunted, dead-eyed look he imagines sends the message, "Leave me alone." Instead it cries out, "Save me." Playing a man with a tragic, endlessly telegraphed secret, Wilson purchases an ugly house in a non-descript neighborhood he hopes will serve as his Fortress Of Solitude, a safe place to hide from a world he views with suspicion and distrust. Alas, he has the misfortune of moving into the block that Hope built: all his neighbors seem infinitely more invested in Wilson's happiness than Wilson himself, and it isn't long until they've burst through his formidable defenses with their religious faith, indefatigable optimism, and indie-film quirkiosity...Cast yet again as a soulful sad sack, Wilson plays a would-be recluse whose privacy is severely compromised by a water stain on his house that neighbor Adriana Barraza believes represents the magical, healing head of Jesus...Henry Poole cycles through so many indie film cliches--the dour, depressed loner nursing a dark secret, a motley group of outsiders that form an unlikely but loving surrogate family, a welcoming circle of mourning, a touch of twee magic realism, a tremblingly earnest alt-rock soundtrack--that it continually skirts self-parody. Wilson travels an achingly familiar arc from drunken, sour loneliness and alienation to healthy engagement with the outside world, but this leaden, sluggishly paced film takes forever to get to its pre-determined destination and boasts a tone that runs the gamut from mournful to sad to melancholy. The Lord may work in mysterious ways, but the filmmakers behind sensitive, life-affirming indie dramas about brooding young men stumbling towards redemption are an awfully predictable lot. - Nathan Rabin