MPAA Rating: for thematic elements and some language.

Review coming from Contributor: Lacey Mical (Callahan) Walker

Moral Rating:

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Moviemaking Quality:

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Primary Audience:

Teens, Adults

Genre:

Comedy, Drama

Length:

1 hr. 40 min.

Year of Release:

2008

USA Release:

August 15, 2008 (500 theaters)

Relevant Issues

Death

Final judgment

Why is the world the way it is? If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and loving, would He really create a world like this? (filled with oppression, suffering, death and cruelty) Answer

Depression

Are there biblical examples of depression and how to deal with it? Answer

What should a Christian do if overwhelmed with depression? Answer

Faith

Miracles

Miracles, including list of biblical miracles

“Miracles are not possible,” some claim. Is this true? Answer

Is it logical to believe that the biblical miracles really happened? Answer

Hope

Discover God’s promise for all people—told beautifully and clearly from the beginning. Discover The HOPE! Watch it on-line, full-length motion picture.

Are you going to Heaven? Are you SURE you know the answer this extremely important question? Or have you made some common wrong assumptions? Find out now!…

Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer

How good is good enough? Answer

“Changing his attitude will take a miracle.”

Producer’s Synopsis: “HENRY POOLE is HERE is a modern-day fable, where director Mark Pellington investigates the unexpected wonders of the everyday. A faithless man finds hope. A hopeless man finds love. Whether backyard miracles are real or triggered by hope and belief, their personal effects are permanent.  Starring Luke Wilson, the comedic drama is about a disillusioned man who goes hiding in placid suburbia only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope. Returning to the middleclass neighborhood where he grew up, Henry chooses to live in indulgent isolation. Real life, however, refuses to cooperate with his plans. Nosy neighbors interrupt him with curious visits and prying questions. Then the situation escalates as a stain on Henry's stucco wall is seen to have miraculous powers. His last-ditch hideout becomes a shrine; his backyard turns into an arena for passionate debate about faith and destiny. Seeking anonymous oblivion, cynical Henry Poole instead finds himself right at the center of the human comedy.

Luke Wilson (‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ ‘Old School’), Academy Award® nominee Adriana Barraza (‘Babel’) and Radha Mitchell (‘Finding Neverland’) star in a modern day fable about the unexpected wonders of the everyday from director Mark Pellington (‘U2 3D,’ ‘The Mothman Prophesies’). Henry Poole is Here tells the funny, poignant and uplifting story of a disillusioned man who attempts to hide from life in a rundown suburban tract home only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope.

Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) just wants to disappear. Shattered by circumstances beyond his control, he offers full price on a cookie cutter house in a drab, middle-class, L.A. neighborhood through his perky realtor Meg (Cheryl Hines). But just as he settles in to his indulgent isolation with a case of vodka and all the junk food he can eat, his neighbor, a well-meaning busybody named Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), drops by with a plate of homemade tamales and a whole lot of questions.

Despite his desire for solitude, Henry can’t help noticing Dawn (Radha Mitchell), the beautiful young divorcée next door and her daughter Millie (Morgan Lily), an eight-year-old amateur spy who hasn't spoken a word since her parents' break-up.

Henry's self-imposed exile is shattered when Esperanza discovers a mysterious stain on Henry's stucco wall that is seen to have miraculous powers. She begins leading pilgrimages to the ‘holy site’ and invites church officials, including her pastor, Father Salizar (George Lopez), to inspect the apparition.

Although Henry remains skeptical, he finds himself gradually drawn back towards life, especially after his silent friendship with Millie brings him closer to Dawn. As news of the apparition spreads throughout the neighborhood and his feelings for Dawn grow, Henry realizes his plan to live out his days in quiet desperation is going to be much harder than he ever imagined.”

“…achieves something that is uncommonly difficult. It is a spiritual movie with the power to emotionally touch believers, agnostics and atheists -- in that descending order, I suspect. It doesn't say that religious beliefs are real. It simply says that belief is real. And it's a warm-hearted love story.…”
—Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“…inspiring, well written and deftly directed, with a positive nod to God, faith and real miracles… Strong Christian worldview with strong moral, biblical elements but protagonist fights Christian faith in God, Jesus and miracles until almost the very end, though the ending could be more clearly evangelistic…”
—Movieguide

“…Pic's tendency to lecture on the power of faith and religion and on the demerits of science seems to assume an almost childlike audience that needs to be spoon-fed Pablum. This tale of a single man whose medical death sentence is reversed in part by a neighborhood of believers won't advance the profile of the always-likable Luke Wilson, and Christian moviegoers will have to show up in great numbers to keep the film from being doomed to something far less than sleeper status. So insistent is the film that lack of belief in God is a personal failure, nonbelievers are likely to feel offended.…”
—Robert Koehler, Variety

“…while Pellington (and, for the record, the Bible) insists that miracles can happen, it's faith—belief—that's the important thing in his movie. Sometimes just getting on with life after loss is the real miracle. The miracle in Henry's story is not that he is given a new timeline: He is given new life—permission to enjoy each day to the fullest.…”
—Paul Asay, PluggedIn