Rating: 
Summary: Poor...
Review: I disliked this film SO much. It did not have the same feel as past Hartley films; it seemed it lacked soul. I found the character unlikeable and unappealing. If you are expecting Trust, Amateaur, or even Flirt, don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked this film very much...
Review: I enjoyed this film very much. I liked almost all of the characters and I did not think that the title character was overdone. He reminded me of the lead in NAKED. I also enjoyed the ideas behind the art of writing. Very intuitive, I think. I didn't give it five stars because I think four is enough...too bad it is not available on DVD...
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing.
Review: I first saw part of HENRY FOOL on either the Sundance Channel or the Independent Film Channel. I'm not sure what it was, but the filmed sucked me in. There are some scenes that are fairly shocking (Faye and Henry consummanting their relationship as Simon finds his and Faye's mother lying dead in the bathtub). However, the scenes are filmed in such a way that they don't seem as horrifying as they would be in real life. The film addresses some big issues, e.g. what is the nature of an artist?; has a delightful cast, contains some extremely intelligent and witty dialogue; and has a great score.The best thing I can say about the film is that I hadn't seen the whole movie when I purchased the video and after watching all of HENRY FOOL, decided I liked the movie enough to keep it.
Rating:
Summary: "Henry Fool" was so bad, I had to stop the VCR.
Review: I found Thomas Jay Ryan's performance, as Henry Fool, dull, overacted, and pretentious. Urbaniak was somewhat better. Parker Posey as the promiscuous sister, was one dimensional at best. The storyline was good, but the actors just didn't make the cut.
Rating: 
Summary: A film that is too human and powerful.
Review: I recently saw this movie on cable, and it's a film too powerful, whenyou see this movie or any other Hal Hartley film, you feel like you are there, between the characters, you feel everything that happens in the movie,and here is something that i love about Hartley's films that they are boring, but unexplainley entertaining, if you want another film by Hal Hartley, that feels very very human like this one, check out, "The Book of Life".
Rating:
Summary: what a great movie!!!!
Review: I saw this movie in the theatre because I liked Parker Poesy but I left loving all of them.... the character that is.... THis movie is great.... It is a film student dream.... Packed with great acting and writing and director it has everything... This is must see if you like independent films.... if you like movie like titanic this is not for you..... but for everyone else that has taste watched and you will love it..
Rating: 
Summary: It's difficult to tell....
Review: I thought that the idea of "Henry Fool" was interesting. A garbageman, encouraged by Henry Fool, a mysterious stranger, writes his heart out into controversial poetry. We never ever get to read this poetry, making it all the more intriguing. However, I did not find this film enjoyable. One fundamental reason for this was that Simon was the only character we could remotely care about. I found Henry's pretensions annoying. We learn that he served time for statutory rape, but this has no relevance within the film and is useless information. Another reason I didn't like the film was that it was boring and ran too long. And I loved "Magnolia." Yet another reason for me not liking the film was the scene where Henry has diarrhea, complete with gross sound effects. This totally took me out of a film I was not that involved in in the first place. "Henry Fool" is a morose, lifeless film that seems longer than 137 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Starts Off Interesting
Review: I thought that the idea of "Henry Fool" was interesting. A garbageman, encouraged by Henry Fool, a mysterious stranger, writes his heart out into controversial poetry. We never ever get to read this poetry, making it all the more intriguing. However, I did not find this film enjoyable. One fundamental reason for this was that Simon was the only character we could remotely care about. I found Henry's pretensions annoying. We learn that he served time for statutory rape, but this has no relevance within the film and is useless information. Another reason I didn't like the film was that it was boring and ran too long. And I loved "Magnolia." Yet another reason for me not liking the film was the scene where Henry has diarrhea, complete with gross sound effects. This totally took me out of a film I was not that involved in in the first place. "Henry Fool" is a morose, lifeless film that seems longer than 137 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: What a bunch of Henry Fools
Review: If Hartley were reading this page of reviews, he would be laughing himself silly. So many of the reviewers here could be Henry Fool that it's pathetic. The first thing one has to realize about this movie (and which should be obvious to anyone who was watching even halfway closely) is that Henry Fool is full of it. The sheer irony of the film is that he is nothing of what he makes himself out to be (a tortured genius, a misunderstood writer, a callous scoundrel, etc.) and simultaneously everything that he rails against (primarily the pseudo-intellectual elite). Henry is the epitome of the pretentious slacker plaguing modern America - always complaining, always about to do something momentous, always focusing on his/her needs, always feeding off of others, and never providing an unselfish moment for others. Henry makes time for Simon only because it amuses him to do so - he feels superior to Simon, even in the face of Simon's awakening greatness, but once Simon becomes independent of him (witness the negotiation scene between Simon and the publishing mogul), then Henry dismisses Simon as part of the world that doesn't understand his "unique" and lamentably absent genius. But, to his defense, Henry does exhibit flashes of true humanity. He does love Fay, although he is incapable of showing it for more than a few minutes at a time. He is genuinely concerned about the abused Pearl and her mother, although it unwittingly gets him into a larger mess than anticipated. In his attempts to show his artistic sensibilities at the start of the film, Henry unwittingly sparks Simon's genius by encouraging him to write down any thoughts that strike him, although its clear that Henry expects nothing of import. Henry is the catalyst for Simon, Fay, and others' lives, and the fact that he does so little while talking so much is part of the ironic fun in this film - those who speak the least (Simon, Henry's son, and Daughter Dang) are the ones who do the most. At the bottom of it all, Henry's biggest failing to refusing to accept his mistakes and crimes. He claims unrepentance but feels a deep-seated shame that comes out in his excuses - "People like us, Simon, great writers, can't be tied down to the everyday mundane existence of the common rabble" is a speech that resurfaces time and time again as a reason to avoid everyday labor, and the fact that he claims that his affair with the 13-year-old is part of some conspiracy against him is symptomatic of his refusal to come to terms with himself. The nature of discontent and how it brings out our seamier qualities is exemplified in Henry and other characters. The characters who accept their lives as given are the ones who succeed, while those who are discontented are driven to crime, drug and alcohol abuse, denigration of their families, and suicide "Does it matter that it's not remarkable?" asks Simon of his clinically depressed mother. "Yes," she replies, shortly before her death. In short, Henry is a fool - he knows what is right, but he does wrong for the gluttonous joy of it. He knows what he should do to succeed in the world but chooses to live off of others because it would be too much effort otherwise. He has every reason to be content (a house, a lovely wife, a loving son, and a steady if menial job) but prefers his cynical and self-destructive worldview. He is everything that the world tells us can bring no good - and yet, he does manage to procreate two great things of beauty while living with the Grims - an amazing poet and a kindly, intelligent son. In the end, Henry is provided with a choice - to either run from his troubles as he has always done or to face the music and be a mensch. Which does he choose? is the question that Hartley leaves us with, along with the rest of this quirky, bumpy film. While a good show, "Henry Fool" is not as engaging as "Trust" nor as offbeat as "Amateur." However, it is still a film worth watching. Forget the over-wraught analytical nonsense that the some many of the other reviewers and I have spewed - instead, watch this film and see if you can recognize a Henry Fool in your life.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Wonderful
Review: If you are a person who likes idealized, Hollywood -style representations of what life should be like, then this is not the movie for you. But for those of us who relish the contradictions present in human character, who can find beauty and comedy in the profane, and who see beyond the dichotomy of "good" and "bad/evil", Henry Fool provides a gripping, funny, and inspiring portrait of "real" people, with all of their complexity.
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