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The Book of Henry

Bring some form of Dramamine cause you'll get sick with the syrup.

The Book of Henry

Grade: D

Director: Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed)

Screenplay: Greg Hurwitz

Cast: Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), Jaeden Lieberher (Midnight Special)

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hr 45 min

by John DeSando

The Book of Henry is part thriller and part soap opera, the former with possibilities, the latter mired in melodrama so debilitating as to sink the entire film in melancholia. At least for this critic.

Single mom Susan (Naomi) has a precocious, some say genius, 11 year old son, Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), and a normal cutie, Peter (Jacob Tremblay) in a household filled with love and dislocations. So far you know the clichéd circumstances, but fear not, Susan will be guided through difficulties by a co-worker waitress with a breast tattoo and smart mouth, Sheila (Sarah Silverman), and a tall, dark, handsome neurosurgeon, David Daniels (Lee Pace), whom she meets by chance.

And that’s just for stereotypical starters.

When you get over the tight shots of Susan in pain or tears (too many shots), you’ll discover the germ of a thriller involving a Police Commissioner neighbor, Glenn Sickelman (Dean Norris)—catch the name? and his abused step daughter, Christina (Maddie Ziegler). Bright Henry would like to champion the abused girl, but the commish is formidable. This is the most successful part of the film, albeit never fore grounded enough.

That plot has real possibilities shredded away by the melodrama. It’s a shame because there are too many real-life victims who need to see the chance they may have to right an egregious wrong. The dislocation of household power by having Henry call the shots including the finances is close to the realm of the impossible. Yet, that reversal of roles has been played before, as unbelievable as it may seem.

But the recent presidential election is what I would call unbelievable, so this plot may not qualify. Naomi Watts is a fine actress but not meant to spend an entire film in the throes of stress. But wait, perhaps the neurosurgeon can help. Yeah, Boy!    

John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com

John DeSando holds a BA from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in English from The University of Arizona. He served several universities as a professor, dean, and academic vice president. He has been producing and broadcasting as a film critic on It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics for more than two decades. DeSando received the Los Angeles Press Club's first-place honors for national entertainment journalism.