Book of Henry
The Book of Henryawkwardly mashes together compelling individual elements, giving rise to a jarring and otherwise confounding viewing experience.
11 - year old Henry Carpenter ( Jaeden Lieberher ) is a full - fledged boy genius who is capable of doing everything from manage his family ’s finances to build a extremely - detailed club out in the Wood , and even making lucrative investments so that he , his unmarried female parent Susan ( Naomi Watts ) and younger brother , Peter ( Jacob Tremblay ) , can all live a comfortable animation in their modest township . However , there ’s one thing that Henry seemingly ca n’t do and that is to help Christina ( Maddie Ziegler ): the girlfriend around his age who lives next room access to Henry , alone with her abusive stepfather and the local police commissioner , Glenn Sickleman ( Dean Norris ) .
After multiple give way attempts to protect Christina by conventional agency , Henry concocts a rather elaborate plan to rescue her and write it all down in his handy - dandy crimson notebook computer . Unfortunately , due to unforeseen complication that arise thereafter , Henry is unable to carry out this mission on his own . Thus , it falls to Susan to save Christina instead by following the instructions that have been written out for her in " The Book of Henry " .
The Book of Henryis the third feature article - length directorial exploit from Colin Trevorrow , following his critical breakout winner on the 2012 indie filmSafety Not Guaranteedand his first spring into the world of big - budget franchise movie making , with 2015’sJurassic World . In the wake of the overall half-hearted critical reception forJurassic World , the Bob Hope was thatBook of Henrywould serve as something of a palate cleansing agent for Trevorrow , bringing him back to his ascendent in original , low - budget , cinematic storytelling before he sets to influence on his next blockbuster -Star Wars : Episode IX . Unfortunately , Trevorrow ’s third motion picture is more of an challenging misfire than confident next dance step forwards in the film maker ’s development . The Book of Henryawkwardly philander together compelling individual constituent , giving rise to a jarring and otherwise confounding viewing experience .
Book of Henryrecalls last year ’s critical misfirePassengers , in that its screenplay - the first bring about flick playscript by longtime novelist , TV show writer and amusing Holy Writ source , Gregg Hurwitz - is a messy montage of aroused tones and music genre that do n’t come together to form a cohesive whole , as a story . Trevorrow has said that an earliest draught of the script by Hurwitz ( himself , a medical specialist in crime literature ) was"more of a black comedy,“but the account that in reality made it onto the self-aggrandising screen is part capricious boy genius tale , part household tearjerker and part spectacular thriller . Similar to howPassengershas been accused of being a horror movie that does n’t realize that it ’s a horror movie , Book of Henrynever the right way recognize the darkly funny side of its overarching plot . Moreover , by ( in core ) attempting to blend in three movies into one , Book of Henryrobs its secret plan threads of the excited encroachment they could have as item-by-item storylines . It ’s an admirable attempt at being truly original , but a misguided one all the same .
Script publication aside , Trevorrow ’s direction onBook of Henryis on the whole sturdy , if otherwise unremarkable . act alongside hisJurassic Worldcinematographer John Schwartzman , Trevorrow crafts a nice portrait of a low - town context that feel populate - in and tangible , yet lacks a distinguishable sense of time and place . The more faint - hearted moment and shot in the film get most of their personality from the score write by Michael Giacchino ( anotherJurassic Worldalum ) rather than the steering , but Trevorrow and his output team do create an effective sense of tension and suspense during the thriller - style fortune of the cinema . Trevorrow is less successful at transitioningBook of Henrybetween its tonal sack , often using a basic fade - to - pitch blackness to keep thing moving from one turn of case to another . alas , this only further calls attention to the unwieldy and occasional design of the larger movie .
as luck would have it , Trevorrow proves more adept at promote solid execution fromBook of Henry ’s gifted main mold . Young leads Jaeden Lieberher ( Midnight Special ) and Jacob Tremblay ( Room ) have good covert chemistry and make for a convincing duad of onscreen brothers , as a final result . However , as emotionally - authentic and credible as Lieberher and Tremblay are inBook of Henry , the twosome can only do so much to bring keen deepness to their several roles and compensate for the rather - contrived nature of their characters , as they are written . likewise , Naomi Watts deport yet another multifarious and run performance in her own right , yet is undermined by her reference ’s under - cooked electric discharge . Susan ’s coming of parent - age journeying bank too to a great extent on plot creature comforts and jumps in logical system , whileBook of Henryitself arguably paints Watts ' character - who is the rightful booster of the film - in a harsh ignitor than she deserve ( bringing to mind like critique ofJurassic World ’s intervention of its own female leading ) .
While Maddie Ziegler ( best love for her study onDance Momsand music video coaction with Sia ) does fine work in the part of Christina , Book of Henrydances around exploring the psychology of a traumatized unseasoned young lady , save for a couple of abbreviated scenes that allude to how Christina deals with her pain through artistic expression . Dean Norris as the malevolent step - parent in this " fairy tale " makes for a pretty monotonic villain too , in no low part becauseBook of Henrytends to tell , rather than show , the hearing that his character is too well-thought-of in his small community to face the rebound for his behavior . Sarah Silverman also pops up for a few scene as Susan ’s wine-colored - loving dear Quaker and carbon monoxide gas - proletarian , Sheila , but the character ’s interaction with Henry pass on far less of an aroused depression than the film seems to make bold they do .
Often baffling to the point of being bewitching for thewrongreasons , Book of Henrycomes across as a project that in all probability interpret as being very challenging on paper , yet is rather upstage in existent apparent movement . Book of Henryis admirable in the way that it aspires to take audience on a roller coaster ride of emotion that can match ( and perchance exceed ) the thrill - drive experience of your mean spectacle - beat back Hollywood summer tentpole . Unfortunately , it merely does n’t have much in the way of achiever with reach that goal . Book of Henry ’s three - movies - in - one approach will no doubt work for some moviegoers , but for others it ’s more likely to instigate unintended laugh and confusion that anything else . Here ’s to hop that thing knead out considerably for Trevorrow when he graph a course to a galaxy far , far by .
Trailer
The Book of Henryis now bet in U.S. theaters . It is 105 transactions long and is Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief hard language .
individual mother Susan Carpenter works as a waitress alongside her touchy family ally Sheila . Taking care of everyone and everything in his own way of life is Susan ’s older Logos Henry . Protective of his brother and a tireless garter of his often ego - doubt female parent , Henry blazes through the days like a comet . When Susan happen upon that the kin next door harbors a dark closed book , she ’s surprised to find out that Henry has machinate a plan to help the young girl .
Single mother Susan Carpenter works as a waitress alongside her feisty family friend Sheila. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own way is Susan’s older son Henry. Protective of his brother and a tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother, Henry blazes through the days like a comet. When Susan discovers that the family next door harbors a dark secret, she’s surprised to learn that Henry has devised a plan to help the young daughter.
