irritatedjulian
In the 1980s, you were pretty much guaranteed that any film with Harrison Ford's name above the title would be really good. That began to change as the 1990s wore on and in hindsight, this is where the slide began.In theory this could have been an interesting movie. The redemption of a successful but unpleasant human being and the effect his behaviour had on the people around him. Yet somehow, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, it never becomes anything more than a made for TV disease of the week special. Albeit with an expensive cast. It's a real shame that the one time they paired up Harrison Ford and Annette Bening, it was in this!The cast themselves are fine and they all do their best with the material that they've been given. But crikey, the script is just so shallow and facile. It wasn't something I paid a lot of attention to when I first watched this as a teenager. But re-watching as an adult it's most unsatisfactory. Even though being married to evil Henry can't have been easy for his wife, the new Henry's a mixed blessing for her .Yes he's a much more pleasant human being than his old self but she's now left with a diminished, childlike husband for the rest of their days. Adjusting to that's not something that'll happen overnight. The film's also filled with contrived scenes. Henry's Ritz crackers, his miraculous learning how to read and the way he undoes the harm he'd done to the couple at the start of the film. It's all far too neat and tied up in a bundle for my liking. It begs more questions than it answers really.For what it is, it's well made. Ultimately though, it's the movie equivalent of a cheeseburger. It'll fill you at the time but leave you unsatisfied.
Jackson Booth-Millard
I had heard about this film for some time, mainly because of the leading actor and bits and pieces I had heard about the concept, I hoped it would be something I would enjoy, written by J.J. Abrams (Forever Young, Alias, Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), directed by Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Closer, Charlie Wilson's War). Basically Henry Turner (Harrison Ford) is an ambitious and highly successful Manhattan lawyer, but he is obsessed with work and has a callous, narcissistic, and sometimes unethical nature. Henry being despicable and ruthless in the workplace, spending the majority of his time there leaves him little time to be with his prim socialite wife Sarah (Annette Bening) and troubled pre-teenage daughter Rachel (Mikki Allen). One night, Henry goes into a convenience store for cigarettes, there he interrupts a robbery, the Gunman (John Leguizamo) shoots Henry in the chest and head before fleeing. The bullet to the head hit Henry's right frontal lobe, and the bullet to the chest hit Henry's left subclavian vein, this means he experienced internal bleeding and a cardiac arrest, but more imminently he has suffered brain damage, losing the ability to move or speak, and suffers retrograde amnesia. With the help of a physical therapist Bradley (Bill Nunn), Henry slowly regains his movement and speech, returning home he is almost childlike, with Rachel teaching him to read, being impressed by his surroundings, and forming new friendships with his family and colleagues. Henry realises he does not like the person he was before the shooting, and she and her daughter have become much closer, she is not happy to be going to an out-of-town elite school for girls, as had been planned for her, Henry and Sarah also become much closer, returning to how passionate they felt when they first met, she suggests they should relocate to a smaller, less expensive residence. Henry is allowed to return to work at his firm, but his old assignments and large office are taken away, he is essentially only assigned busy work, he begins to realise he does not want to be a lawyer anymore, this is confirmed when he hears "friends" making derogatory comments about him at a dinner. Henry finds a letter to Sarah from a former colleague disclosing an affair, he is also approached by fellow attorney Linda (Rebecca Miller) who reveals that they also had an affair and had told her he would leave Sarah for her, this makes Henry have second thoughts about himself and his relationships. Henry gives documents from his last case that were suppressed by the firm to the plaintiff who was right all along, he apologises to them, in the end Henry resigns from the firm, says goodbye to Linda, returns to and reconciles with Sarah, realising everything with their lives, before the shooting, was wrong, and finally they withdraw Rachel from the school, Henry and her family all walk away happy. Also starring Donald Moffat as Charlie Cameron, James Rebhorn as Dr. Sultan, Aida Linares as Rosella, Elizabeth Wilson as Henry's secretary Jessica, Robin Bartlett as Phyllis, Bruce Altman as Henry's partner Bruce and John MacKay as George. Ford is often in roles showing not much emotion, so it is perhaps an odd choice for him to be a mean lawyer turning nice, Bening gets some good moments as his wife, it is a very simple story, it may have its flaws in terms of star power, some sympathy for the characters and some predictable bits, but can just get washed up in the glossiness of it, it is a nice enough story, a reasonable drama. Worth watching!
leplatypus
The movie is rather well directed, well scored, well played with a special mention for the daughter and the trainer but the story is just unrealistic. I know it has been written by mister Abrams (who does a cameo) but the story he wants us to believe has nothing to do with the real life. As too many Hollywood desk writers, the characters have no connection with the audience. Here, it's not the courageous cop or the brave doctor but the well-known brilliant and successful lawyer! We should tell those writers that there are thousand jobs outside to pick to tell a story! With such a dumb choice, the emotion is clearly washed up as Harrison gets the best doctor, the best clinic, the best house, the best school for the daughter, the best hotel and so on… His rebuilding as a new man is a good idea but considering the starting point, I really don't care after. About Harrison, he is always this formidable soft-spoken guy who is right and doesn't let go! But as I don't like to watch him play a bad guy, I don't like more to see him suffer. Finally, I have strong reservations before watching it and after watching it, it confirms that I shouldn't have picked it up!
karensbiggestfan
Regarding Henry is one of my favorite movies. My dad suggested I watch it because he also loves it. I caught on one of the movie channels, then ended up going out and buying the DVD because I thought it was so great. Henry is a hard working lawyer at the top of his career. His whole life is about work and social status. Then, something happens that changes everything and he must decide who he wants to be after all. The movie has a very simple, but meaningful message about what's really important in life. It's presented in a dramatic way with comical moments thrown in, just as life really plays out. Harrison Ford and Annette Bening are excellent as usual, but the real standouts for me were Bill Nunn and Mikki Allen. Bill Nun plays Bradley, an amazingly fun and enjoyable physical therapist. Mikki Allen plays the daughter, Rachel, in a performance way beyond her years that Was just unbelievable. I highly recommend this if you're looking to be inspired or just need a pick-me-up when you're down.
