Henry Fool

In the past, Hal Hartley's films have always been impressive in a rather wearisome way. He encourages his actors to recite his quirky dialogue in a clipped, deadpan monotone, and the table-tennis rhythms that inevitably develop between any two characters gradually become more and more irritating--the performers seem to be constantly congratulating themselves on their facility at Hartley-speak. With Henry Fool, however, Hartley has taken a major leap forward, simply by making one of his two protagonists so withdrawn and depressive that he's virtually mute. This near-silent fellow, Simon Grim (played by James Urbaniak), is a garbageman whose life is turned upside-down when the title character (Thomas Jay Ryan, playing a more typically gregarious Hartley dude in high style), a failed writer who's been polishing his epic "Confession" for years, appears from nowhere one afternoon and encourages simple Simon to set some of his thoughts down on paper. What emerges is a highly entertaining dissertation on the role of the artist in society, featuring all of Hartley's strengths--hilariously arch dialogue; off-kilter sensibility; blistering score by "Ned Rifle" (Hartley himself)--without the rat-a-tat fussiness that usually detracts from same. Recommended. (M. D'Angelo)[DVD Review--Jan. 26, 2004--Columbia TriStar, 138 min., not rated, $24.95--Making its debut on DVD, the 1997 film Henry Fool sports a solid anamorphic widescreen transfer, backed by a good Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack, but--unfortunately--no extras. Bottom line: although extra-less, this is one of Hartley's better films and it looks and sounds very good on DVD.]