Saturday, May 19, 2007

Fay Grim

I thought I tried to watch Henry Fool (the first in this two-movie series) when I was in college, and I thought I remembered that I didn't like it and didn't watch the whole thing. Then we did a quick lookup on imdb and the dates don't match up, so I was mistaken. Now I have to wonder if I remember watching it at all. If only I had started this blog 10 years ago...

In any case, this movie, the sequel - (which I read that you didn't have to see Henry Fool in order to enjoy) with the deadpan and hilarious Parker Posey and the intense and so-ugly-he's-handsome Jeff Goldblum - started strong and then petered out a little in the last half hour. It felt like it got tangled up in its own web of intersecting spy plot lines. But, it did have some funny dialog and quirky situations (the scenes with the "toy" deserve special mention) and I would give it 2 1/2 stars out of 5 and maybe more on a second watching.

I don't know how much I like Hal Hartley. This wasn't super-smart or gripping in the way that The Book of Life was. I think the rapid-fire-ping-pong match style dialog is a Hal Hartley trademark and I like it. Perhaps I should give Henry Fool a (nother?) chance.

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