The Book of Henry

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Movie
German title The Book of Henry
Original title The Book of Henry
The Book of Henry Logo.png
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Colin Trevorrow
script Gregg Hurwitz
production Sidney Kimmel ,
Carla Hacken ,
Jenette Kahn ,
Adam Richman
music Michael Giacchino
camera John Schwartzman
cut Kevin Stitt
occupation

The Book of Henry is an American film drama by Colin Trevorrow from the year 2017 .

action

Susan Carpenter is a single mother and lives with her two sons Henry and Peter in a small town in the Hudson Valley . Henry is a child prodigy and at the age of eleven has already made a lot of money in the stock market. One day he falls in love with the girl next door, Christina Sickleman, who, for some inexplicable reason, seems to be depressed. After Henry researches the matter, he finds out that Christina is being abused by her stepfather Glenn, the local police chief. Henry reports his findings to the youth welfare office and the school principal Mrs. Wilder, but without success. Since Glenn has ties to the government through his position as police chief, both the youth welfare office and the rector are unwilling to initiate proceedings against him without solid evidence.

Henry finally tries to save Christina on his own and develops a detailed plan that he writes down in his notebook. However, after Henry has a severe seizure , he is taken to the hospital where he is diagnosed with a brain tumor . Shortly before his upcoming operation, Henry instructs Peter to give Susan the notebook. A few days later he dies in Susan's arms.

Henry's death upsets Susan and she has problems coping with everyday life. When Peter gives her the notebook, however, her goal is to bring Henry's plan to life and thus save Christina. In the notebook you will find detailed instructions on how Glenn should be shot with a sniper rifle . Susan's alibi is said to be a simultaneous school performance by Christina and Peter. So during the performance Susan sneaks out of the hall and begins to implement Henry's plan. Just before she pulls the trigger on the gun, however, she realizes that the entire plan, as good as it may be, sprang from a child's imagination and she must act as an adult. Instead of killing Glenn, she confronts him and explains that she knows about his abuse of Christina. Glenn appears unimpressed and replies that nobody will believe her anyway. At the same time, Rector Wilder, impressed by Christina's dance performance, decides to initiate an investigation against Glenn. During a phone call with a relative at the youth welfare office, Glenn learns about the proceedings against him. When the police arrive, he commits suicide.

After the death of her stepfather, Christina is adopted by Susan.

production

Author Gregg Hurwitz  had already completed the first draft of the script for the film in 1998. The publisher Jenette Kahn finally optioned the material to the film producer Sidney Kimmel , who agreed to realize the film. The screenplay was finally brought to director Colin Trevorrow through his film production company Sidney Kimmel Entertainment . However, since Trevorrow had previously accepted the direction of the blockbuster Jurassic World (2015), the project was on hold for some time. It was only after he was available as a director again after the film that the project was finally realized.

Filming ran in and around New York City from September to November 2015 . The film premiered on June 14, 2017 at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 16, 2017, and on September 21, 2017 in Germany.

Reviews

The film received rather negative reviews from critics.

The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung described the film as "humbug at its best."

CHIP Online came to the following conclusion: “ The Book Of Henry is particularly convincing in the first two thirds, in the first through comedy, in the second through tragedy. The thriller-like finale hardly offers any surprises and turns out to be the weakest part of the film. Anyone who values ​​humor and emotions and can live with a semi-exciting ending willcertainly be entertainedwith The Book Of Henry . If you are a fan of unpredictable story twists and ' Deus ex machina ' appearances, you should save your movie tickets. "

Thomas Vorwerk from filmstarts.de gave the film three out of five stars and said in summary: “ The Book Of Henry comes to Germany with a bad reputation, but that does this completely unexpected mixture of very different genres injustice. Anyone who ignores some obvious weaknesses will discover an unusual and entertaining film full of emotion. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Book of Henry . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Age rating for The Book of Henry . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Naomi Watts wants dinosaur director on n-tv.de, accessed on September 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ The Book of Henry on moviepilot.de, accessed on September 21, 2017.
  5. ^ Matthias Halbig: "The Book of Henry" - Humbug at its best. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , September 6, 2017, accessed on September 22, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Kim Berkemeyer: The Book Of Henry: Emotional drama with small weaknesses (film review). CHIP Online , September 19, 2017, accessed on September 22, 2017 .
  7. ^ Thomas Vorwerk: The Book Of Henry: Critique of the FILMSTARTS editors. Film releases , accessed September 22, 2017 .