Hal Hartley has been making films for nearly ten years now, and after his first efforts The Unbelievable Truth and Trust fans were eager to see where he would go next. His deadpan style, his droll non-sequiters, his visual economy in the service of seemingly banal stories was hip, then. The doldrums seemed to set in in his middle period but now maybe with his latest film Henry Fool he`s emerging from the slump.
Henry Fool is a stranger who turns up to inhabit the basement of the Grim family in Queens. Henry - a debut performance by Thomas Jay Ryan - is an extravagant personality, a man who believes in his own romantic posturing. He`s exactly what the Grim family needs, particularly Simon - James Urbaniak - a garbageman so reclusive he appears simple-minded. But when you see Simon`s family - doped-up mother - Maria Porter and loudly promiscuous sister Parker Posey - you maybe can understand Simon`s desire to escape from the world. A friendship develops between Henry and Simon, Henry has an unpublished manuscript which he brags about and he encourages Simon to write.
Hartley`s stories have always been full of pain. Dysfunctional families impose impossible weights on his central characters, but fragile connections build a strength. Those elements are present in Henry Fool. But rarely does Hartley create a character so dramatically overt as Henry. What`s interesting about Hartley is the elusiveness of his films. What exactly is Henry Fool about? My theory about Hartley is that he`s a romantic, desperate to conceal the fact. We yearn for Simon to break out of himself but when he does it`s slightly disappointing. And his final romantic act, reminiscent of the end of Casablanca, leaves us doubtful of its rightness. What can I say? Henry Fool is another Hal Hartley film, yes, but it`s breaking out of some of the self-imposed constraints to expose the pain rather than underplay it.
