519. The Book Of Henry; movie review
Cert 12A
105 mins
BBFC advice: Contains emotionally upsetting scenes, child abuse references, strong language
As we come to the end of the 2017 everyfilm challenge, it is time to respond to the requests of the loyal blog readers.
About a month ago, a longstanding Twitter follower pleaded with me to watch The Book Of Henry because it had been one of his favourites of the year despite a panning by many critics.
With his recommendation in mind, I downloaded it on iTunes and was rather pleased that I did because Colin Trevorrow’s movie took me into very unexpected directions.
Initially, The Book Of Henry is focused on a boy genius (Jaeden Liberher) who lives with his erratic mum (Naomi Watts) and younger brother (Jacob Tremblay).
This is pretty engaging as a plot-line and Liberher is beautifully deadpan as the boy who seems to know everything.
Meanwhile, two much more serious storylines are developed surrounding his health and the apparent abuse of the girl next door.
I was mighty pleased that I had been pointed in the direction of Trevorrow's film because if it hadn't I doubt it would have made this year's cut.
Its performances are of high quality all round and it is cleverly drawn, from the parallel plots to the clever contraptions created by Henry, the boy wonder.
The Book Of Henry is set up to appear like a children's movie in its early stages with much of the action set in school or in Henry's tree house.
But viewers should not be fooled - its much more adult themes during its second half should give parents cause for caution.
Indeed, that might be the reason it struggled at the box office and nearly went under my radar.
But what I can't fathom is why it received such universally negative reviews - to the point that Trevorrow was fired from directing the new Star Wars film.
Anyway, films, like life, are all about opinion, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Reasons to watch: splendidly crafted and unusual family drama
Reasons to avoid: children might be kept away from the adult themes
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8/10
Star tweet
The Book of Henry is so close to being good. It takes some major gambles; something Trevorrow didn't do Jurassic World. And in the end, those risks got him fired. *sigh* While The Book of Henry makes some big mistakes, I liked it 1,000,000 times more than Jurassic World.
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