The Book of Henry

2017

Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller

115
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 22% · 148 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 63% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.6/10 10 29324 29.3K

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Plot summary

Susan, a single mother of two, works as a waitress in a small town. Her son, Henry, is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family finances but acts as emotional support for his mother and younger brother. When Henry discovers that the girl next door has a terrible secret, he implores Susan to take matters into her own hands.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
September 23, 2017 at 08:21 PM

Top cast

Lee Pace as Dr. David Daniels
Naomi Watts as Susan Carpenter
Jacob Tremblay as Peter Carpenter
Jaeden Lieberher as Henry Carpenter
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
775.85 MB
1280*640
English 2.0
PG-13
23.976 fps
1 hr 45 min
Seeds 5
1.6 GB
1920*960
English 2.0
PG-13
23.976 fps
1 hr 45 min
Seeds 9

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CabbageCustard 7 / 10

Very likable but very flawed

I gave 'The Book of Henry' 7 stars, but would love to have given it more. It really is an unusual movie, and I'm not talking about the subject matter. I'm talking about the flow of the movie. It has two distinct, very different halves, separated by some moments of gut-wrenching tragedy that will have all but the most cynical reaching for the Kleenex.

The first and most enjoyable part of the movie introduces the characters - a single mum, her two sons, her good-hearted but rough-around-the edges-friend and the girl next door, who just might be dealing with some problems of her own. The movie does a good job of this and we really develop an affection for these people. Then tragedy strikes and the movie suddenly veers off into an extremely ridiculous and far-fetched plot line involving the mother and the eponymous Book of Henry. It's silly and unbelievable and if you are able to put yourself in the mother's shoes and imagine yourself acting as she does, you will agree. You just wouldn't.

Fortunately for the movie, by the time the silliness kicks in we have enough emotional investment with the characters to carry us through to the end and actually enjoy the show. Acting throughout is good. Jaeden Lieberher and Jacob Tremblay shine. The adults are good too.

It's cliched. It's dumb in places. It's moving and thoroughly engaging in others. In short, it's seriously flawed, but it's enjoyable and despite the silly second half, the ending is satisfying if, again, a little unbelievable. I'm glad I watched it.

Reviewed by lavatch 1 / 10

"He Grows Her Up"

In the bonus track of the DVD of "The Book of Henry," the director Colin Trevorrow described how the narrative was "breaking all the rules of screen writing." Indeed, it broke the rules so badly that the results were disastrous to the degree that this may be a new low in Hollywood filmmaking.

The broken rules led to a movie with that was split in half. The first part tells the story of an eleven-year-old kid who is a genius. He is so far advanced both intellectually and emotionally that he manages the tawdry and troubled life of his mother, plus attempts an intervention with the girl next door who is apparently being abused by her stepfather. This strand of the story stretches credibility beyond belief, especially in the family dynamic of the single mom, a waitress and wannabe writer of children's stories, and the two little boys. It doesn't help that the girl next door, who is a schoolmate in the same class as Henry, looks at least five years older than the little genius.

But nothing can prepare the viewer for the ridiculous second half of the film, wherein the narrative takes a turn towards a mystery-suspense story. The child prodigy is killed off by cancer, yet leaves detailed instructions for his mother on how to kill the next door neighbor by committing the perfect crime.

This far-fetched and stupid screenplay was an abomination.

In the cast interviews section on the DVD, actress Naomi Watts described her character's co-dependent relationship with little Henry by using fractured English grammar: "He grows her up," says Watts, and this takes the form of little Henry managing the affairs of his incompetent mom and caring for his little brother in the absence of a responsible parent. Watts' character, Susan Carpenter, whiles away her life with video games, cavorting with her lazy, alcoholic co-worker, and preparing a meal that is comprised exclusively of desserts. The film makes no mention of the father of the two little boys. Of course, it doesn't, as it breaks all of the rules of screen writing.

The filmmakers were obviously unaware that Susan Carpenter's behavior was so appalling that she was just as culpable of child abuse as Mr. Sickleman next door. Not only does Susan's character get a free pass, but she is even awarded custody of a new child by the end of the film. Trapped in a perpetual infantile state, Susan is incapable of functioning in an adult world. One has to feel sorry for the kind doctor who was attracted to Susan. Little does he know what lies ahead for him in that relationship, especially when she gets going in the kitchen.

The screenplay is also filled with one-liners that not only lack credibility, but lapse into comedy. Susan tells her younger son prior to the school talent show, "Don't panic, stay calm, and remember your Lamaze breathing." The producers appearing on the bonus track of the DVD tried to hype the film as a study of good versus evil and the triumph of the "human spirit." But it was a triumph of the human spirit for the audience members to get through this stinker without resorting to Lamaze breathing techniques in response to a sleazy and jaw-droppingly bad piece of cinema.

Reviewed by siderite 8 / 10

Don't punish the film because it's doing something different

I liked the film. It's got a surreal quality that makes it a bit hard to swallow, but once you get into it, you realize that the vision of the writer was much larger than the actual events in the film.

It all starts with an 11 year old child who is incredibly smart. He is actually "the man of the house" and earns the money and takes care of his mom. The inversion of control is not haphazard, but intentional. Through this child's eyes we see how messed up "common sense" really is, but in the end things happen that show the viewer they are not helpless, inferior people, but part of the solution (or of the problem).

Is it a perfect film? No. But the people giving it bad reviews and low ratings have either not bothered to make the effort to understand it or are incapable to. The acting was reasonable, the story interesting and - I believe - the underlying theme both refreshing and important.

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