Review of The Book of Henry (2017) by Patrick L — 20 Oct 2017

"Poorly constructed and sorely misguided, "The Book of Henry" is a would-be tear-jerker that tries way too hard to trigger any kind of emotional response from the audience".

DVD Movie Review: The Book of Henry.

Date Viewed: October 15 2017.

Directed By Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed and Jurassic World).

Written By Gregg Hurwitz.

Starring: Jaeden Lieberher, Naomi Watts, Jacob Tremblay, Dean Norris, Maddie Ziegler, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace, Bobby Moynihan, Tonya Pinkins, Geraldine Hughes and Jackson Nicoll.

Every "Book" needs to have a real and humane story in order for it to work but "The Book of Henry" doesn't have a real and humane story, it's a total disaster. I'll give this film a little credit for balancing on a very difficult tightrope. It tries to shuffle with different genres, styles and tones but if you can't balance all of these things in correct order, all hope is lost. And Naomi Watts, you're a fine and talented actress but get it together please! Just tell us what's wrong? Do you have any bills to pay or were you just baffled and misled by the direction of this movie?

Where did "The Book of Henry" came from? Was it based on a popular novel? Or was it a rejected Allan Loeb script? There are just too many questions for me to comprehend. The story involves a brilliant financial boy genius, a coma, an abusive stepfather, Rube Goldberg devices, a sniper rifle and WHAT THIS! A talent show at the end! Gee, like we had enough of those this year. Set in a New England-esque small suburban town in the Hudson Valley, the film revolves around an 11-year-old boy genius named Henry Carpenter (Jaeden Lieberher, from "St. Vincent", "Midnight Special" and this year's blockbuster horror hit "It") and he and his little 8-year-old brother, Peter (Jacob Tremblay, from "Room") are being raised by their single mother, Susan (Watts).

Henry is like the man who runs the family household because he is such an incredible financial wizard. How so you may ask? Well, he has used his intellect to invest successfully in the stock market and he was able to build up a pretty good nest egg for his family. Despite the fact that her intellectual son made her so rich, Susan still works as a waitress at a local diner. She also likes to write children's picture books and play violent video games. What kind of 40-year-old mother plays violent video games? I don't know a single mom in my hometown who plays M-rated video games. Do you?

Anyways, Henry could've been studying in Harvard or any other university for that matter but he decided to stay in a regular school because his younger brother gets constantly picked on and teased by bullies. Henry and his mother are both fond of their next-door neighbor (and Henry's classmate), Christina Sickleman (Maddie Ziegler) who has become glum and sad. Why? That's because she's living with her abusive stepfather, Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris) who serves as the local police commissioner. When Henry sees Christina getting abused by her stepfather through his window one night, he tries to tell the principal (Tonya Pinkins) about this but she refuses to take any action unless he has real proof. She also explains to Henry that Glenn is a beloved member of the community and yeah, that usually means he's either an abuser or a pedophile.

Henry tries to call Social Services but even they are no help because it's being run by Glenn's brother. Suddenly one night, Henry has a violent seizure and he gets sent to the hospital. Henry is soon dealt with crushingly bad news as neurosurgeon, Dr. David Daniels (Lee Pace) informs him that he has a brain tumor and he only has a few days left to live. When Henry tragically passes away, he leaves behind a notebook for Susan to read. Just when you think this movie couldn't get any more crazy and phony, Henry also left behind a tape recorder and step-by-step instructions on how to kill Glenn.

When Susan sees Glenn's abuse first hand through her window, she decides to take action and follow her late intellectual son's instructions. Henry through the tape recorder instructs her mom on how to buy a sniper rifle, buy the right type of ammunition, cover her tracks and find the right spot to kill Glenn. "The Book of Henry" gets more preposterous and unbelievably ridiculous with each passing scene that goes by and the screenplay by Gregg Hurwitz is completely whimsy and overly sentimental.

If you can't believe the insanity of this movie, you also won't believe who directed it. Colin Trevorrow, the lucky schmuck who helmed the gigantic summer blockbuster "Jurassic World". I guess he was trying to make something different besides another big-budget spectacle but "The Book of Henry" is a would-be tear-jerker that tries way too hard to trigger any kind of emotional response from the audience. Jaeden Lieberher and Jacob Tremblay are charmingly adorable young actors but they are way too good for this material. The cast also includes Sarah Silverman as Susan's best friend and SNL's Bobby Moynihan as the manager of the restaurant where Susan works.

There are bad movies that are just bad but every so often you get a bad movie that is so poorly constructed and sorely misguided, you can't believe you're watching it and "The Book of Henry" is that kind of movie.