Published: August 28, 2008 09:57 am            

Miracles happen in ‘Henry Poole is Here'

Movie Review

No big actors, no big budget, no big bangs. Henry Poole Is Here is a “small” movie by summer standards. But it’s got a big message —about faith, belief, relationships and living in the moment — that it quietly tucks into a story that defies most Hollywood conventions.

Luke Wilson plays Henry Poole, a sullen newcomer to a quiet California suburb who just wants to be left alone. That not-unreasonable goal becomes difficult, however, when an image appears on the side of his house — and other people immediately see the water stain in the stucco as the holy face of Christ.

Soon Henry’s yard has become a pilgrimage site and unexplainable things begin happening to people around him, including a little girl who rediscovers her voice after a year-long period of muteness and a local supermarket clerk who suddenly doesn’t need her Coke-bottle glasses anymore.

But Henry’s skeptical, even as he witnesses the life-altering effects “the face” has on those who believe, and he dismissively swats down any talk of miracles.

It’s eventually revealed why Henry is so angry and sad, and that he could use a miracle himself: an incurable disease is ticking away inside him. To complicate matters, Henry finds himself falling for the single mom next door (Mitchell), who sees something worth loving in him that he can’t see in himself.

Despite a contrived ending that way-too-neatly ties up all the movie’s messy loose ends into a picture-perfect bow, Henry Poole is a subtle charmer, a rare mainstream film that dives directly into religious belief without making believers look foolish or fanatical—and, an even bigger coup, without coming across as posed or preachy.

So what, exactly, constitutes a miracle? Do they really happen? You’ll be thinking about it, hopefully even talking about it, after the credits roll.

And the fact that this quirky, heartwarming, philosophically challenging tale even found its way into the theaters amid the summer clang, clatter and clutter may be a bit of miracle in itself.

        

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