Kristofers Borovskis The most underrated movie I've seen...This week, I wanted to watch the best of the best movies that I haven't seen, and out of all the movies like "Se7en", "The Usual Suspects" and "The Green Mile", that are considered the best of the best, the only one worth the 10, is this little known indie film. There's just something special about this movie I cant describe. The acting is top notch, as well as writing, and the ending is ingenious. But, I do think some people will dislike this movie. Some, like me, will love it, some will find it bad but there is no way to give this movie less than 4/10.

Lee Eisenberg Indie director Hal Hartley accomplished the quirky but definitely worth seeing "Henry Fool", in which a trashy writer helps a socially awkward garbage man discover his real talent. Since the title character describes three kinds of "there", I will use them to describe the movie.There is much in this movie that will give you a new view of your own life.Their talents come across very clearly in this movie.They're the people showing us that movies work best when not showing things exploding for no reason except to show off some star.Anyway, this is certainly a movie that I recommend. If it stars Parker Posey, you know that it's got to be interesting (see also "The House of Yes").

Ddey65 As a native New Yorker, I tend to be drawn to movies and television shows shot in either the 5 Boroughs, and/or Long Island. I also have the occasional appetite for independent films, and don't mind movies starring total unknowns. But none of these factors have ever made me a fan of Hal Hartley's movies. Believe it or not though, an IMDb user suggested that fans of Christy Carlson Romano watch a copy of this one, and I've been appreciating it ever since.Simon Grimm(James Urbaniak) works as a nerdy put-upon garbage man in Queens, NYC, who still lives with his promiscuous sister Fay and depressed mother(Hey, don't laugh. I know of people with better jobs who still can't afford homes of their own), who rents a room out to people whenever they can. Along comes Henry Fool(e), who invites himself into his family's rented room. Fool(Thomas Jay Ryan) is an ex-writer who passes himself off as an iconoclastic lover being persecuted by both the masses and "the man," partially because he had a regretful fling with a 13-year-old girl at one point in his life. Henry Fool IS a fool, because he's convinced that he and Grimm are somehow cut from the same cloth, and encourages him to write down whatever is on his mind. After some spelling and grammatical corrections, Fool does everything he can to expose this writing to the public, which is denounced as obscene by some and brilliant by others. Hartley does the same thing to Simon's story as Quentin Tarantino does with the glowing briefcase being retrieved by Vincent Vega(John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield(Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction. He also puts his characters through different stages in their lives, like Warren(Kevin Corrigan) who starts out as a street thug having public trysts with a girlfriend and attacking Simon for seeing one of them while he's trying to do his job, to supporting far-right anti-immigration political candidate Owen Feer(Don Creech), to becoming a low-life wife & child abuser.Contrary to popular assumption, events *do* take place in Hartley's movies -- obscure stars get surpassed by total unknowns. In "The Unbelievable Truth," the biggest name in that movie was Jeff Howard, who's better known for his role as Joe Ferone in Up the Down Staircase. Then Adrienne Shelley replaced him as the biggest name. Likewise in "Henry Fool" the biggest name from this movie was Parker Posey, and now it's Christy Carlson Romano. In Romano's case, however, her fame came from her work on Even Stevens & Kim Possible, not because of her very non-Disney performance here, which proves to be crucial to the direction of the story. And all I'm going to reveal about that is that parents who's kids are fans of KP and/or Ren & Louis Stevens will be very surprised as to how far Warren's stepdaughter Pearl is willing to go to end her suffering, and let you figure the rest out for yourself.

gpadillo If Hal Hartley were never to make another film, he could easily go down as having created a genuine American Masterpiece with "Henry Fool." Hartley takes this material and stamps it with heart and soul and distance. It's like staring at a palette of beautiful colors - then stepping back to realize it's a bruise. Henry is never less than this astonishing. As Henry,Thomas Jay Ryan gives what is easily the best film debut I've seen in many years. None of the wimpy whispery-voiced drivel that passes for acting these days (from even some of our best screen actors) his performance practically pops off of the screen like a fart at a funeral. The rest of the cast - James Urbaniak, Parker Posey, Maria Porter, Kevin Corrigan, et al. - are on the same inspired level, but it's obvious why the film is named after Henry. I cannot wait to see this man in more. Obviously allegorical, "Henry Fool" fairly teems with its laundry list of symbolism both quaint and profound, easy and impossible. I found my cheeks hurting from the smile stretching across my face for much of the film. Other moments had my eyes welling with tears at the beauty – and pain – these oh, so deceptively simple lives toil through. This is not, obviously, a film for all audiences, there is something of the fairy tale here and while suspension of disbelief is required, it is also its own reward. Actually the characters, though larger than life, are so evenly and wondrously drawn as to become recognizable to all of us as ourselves or others in our own lives. Here we weigh out the seemingly unfair advantages we perceive "others" has having, the pronouncements of self-worth and desire for acceptance and understanding. Hartley's dialogue is equal to the visual aspects of his film: almost stagey (in the good sense), but with a direct honesty that many, unfortunately, will find offputting. His cast delivers these perfectly placed pronouncements with all the gravitas demanded of the situation - and sound natural doing so. It's a beautiful film to listen to. Aside from the brilliant storytelling, "Henry" is also beautiful to look at. Hartley's cameramen lens a Queenscape most unusual – one never quite feels he knows where it's taking place, despite obvious "Queens" clues. Every frame – from Henry's powerfully bizarre arrival to the last triumphant (and gloriously ambiguous) cell is a pleasure, a joy to watch. At its conclusion all I could say was "this was the best movie I've ever seen." Upon reflection, I realize it probably isn't, but at that moment (and each ensuing viewing) I recapture that same, precise feeling. That's what I want in a movie and Henry delivered.