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Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
  How many people ever honestly look back on their lives? Regarding Henry is the story of a man who has no choice but to see his past from an entirely new perspective. It is not great filmmaking, but is done well enough and contains enough meaning to be worthwhile.
Henry Turner (Harrison Ford) is a cruel, greedy, self-obsessed workaholic. These points are driven home with a sledgehammer in the opening sequence of Regarding Henry. He chastises his 11 year old daughter Rachel (Mikki Allen) rather cruelly, basically for acting like an 11 year old. Later, as he apologizes for his earlier behavior, he manages only to criticize her again as he deflects responsibility from himself. He moves back a dinner he is invited to simply to suit his own needs and doesn't even bother to remember the name of the people who invited him. He is a defense attorney known for his ability to basically lie, cheat and steal his way to victory. This movie strives so hard to separate him from the rest of the masses that when he arrives home with his wife Sarah (Annette Bening) from a late, winter dinner, every car and building in sight is coated with snow and frost, but his limousine is spotless. This movie does not exactly begin with subtlety.
Fortunately, it quickly settles down and begins developing a story with some decent value. Henry interrupts a robbery at a local convenience store and is shot, leaving him in a coma with severe brain damage. Once he wakes up, he must start from the beginning again, learning how to talk, walk and generally live his life. He even relies on his daughter to teach him to read again. Due to the goodness of his law partners, he is allowed to return to his old job, but how can he possibly possess the capacity to be productive, and will he even want to continue with his old career?
The story is a not terribly original as Henry begins his life again, looking through the eyes of a child, but it has enough worth saying to generally forgive its weaknesses. The direction is decent and the acting is what helps elevate the story. Ford is pleasantly effective and not terribly overdone in the role of man as child. As an actor known mostly for playing tough, action characters, he seems rather at home in this relatively powerless one.
The true value of Regarding Henry is in how it questions what is actually important in life. Thematically, it is almost a Hollywood version of Wild Strawberries, with the main character reviewing his life through new eyes. It is not the creative work the Bergman film is, but its end result can be just as valuable. In this case, Henry has the opportunity to change things before all is lost. It is not a particularly strong film, but the whole does seem to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Annette Bening, Bruce Altman, Mikki Allen, Robin Bartlett, Bill Nunn.
Director: Mike Nichols
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 108 mins
Year: 1991
Reviewer: John Rice |
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