Regarding Henry (1991)

 Regarding Henry (1991)


I really wanted to like Harrison Ford’s drama Regarding Henry. It seemed like the perfect project for the action star. Coming off well-known action films such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars, time seemed ripe for Ford to tackle a meaty role from a big-name director with classics such as The Graduate to his name. Mike Nichols and Harrison Ford. Sounds like a film worth watching, right? Sadly, the answer is no. By all means the drama is not bad, but it is not the hard-hitting movie I expected. Imagine my surprise that the script was written by a very young J.J Abrams, the brains behind modern Star Wars and Star Trek. He, of course, would get better at writing films. This particular film felt like a sitcom with how the plot played out. Speaking of the plot, the well-intentioned plot is highly predictable, and I smelled the ending within the first few minutes. The most exciting part of the film happened in the first few minutes where Ford’s character gets shot in the head. The rest of the film focuses on the character’s rehabilitation process, both physically and as a person. The premise is basically that Ford’s character goes from an unlikeable person to a caring one. Nichol’s intentions are pure, but sadly gets bogged down in sentiment and cliches. Still, there is some good pleasure to have watching Ford tackle a hard-hitting subject. His performance is excellent.

 

Henry Turner (Harrison Ford) is known for being a tough, ruthless lawyer. He acts cold if not downright unlikable towards his wife, Sarah (Annette Bening) and daughter Rachel. Sarah, for so long, desires her husband’s intimacy and feels like she exists in a prison. Everything changed during the one fateful night when Henry is shot in the head while buying cigarettes at a corner store during a robbery attempt (you may recognize John Leguizamo). Helped by the charismatic Bradley (Bill Nunn), Henry must learn how to properly function as a human again including regaining his speech skills. He also does not remember his life before he was shot. He became an entire new person much to the surprise of his wife and daughter.

 

The performances are what makes the film tolerable. Harrison Ford shows his acting range and proves he can act in serious drama. He was able to elevate his character slightly above the hokey cliches that was written for his character. Ford actually almost turned down the role having played a lawyer in his previous film. This proved different as he only was a lawyer for maybe ten minutes here. Annette Bening also deserves some credit in elevating a rather thankless role. This is one of the performances that got her recognized as a forceful newcomer actress in Hollywood.

 

Regarding Henry could have been better if there was a decent screenplay and better directorial choices. The film’s ending is straight out of Nichol’s The Graduate handbook yet that 1967 film did it better. There were some interesting twists that could have been better developed such as Henry’s affair before his brain injury. There were some funny moments (although I am not sure how intentional the comedy is). The filmmakers did try to shove sentimentality down our throats at every chance they got. It was not earned. We should be thankful for Ford’s and Bening’s committed performances and Hans Zimmer’s solid score. I hoped for better considering this is a Mike Nichols film, but it is still a watchable film with some good moments.

 

My Grade: C+

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