Henry Pool Was Here
January 27, 2009Last night my wife and I watched the DVD “Henry Pool was Here” starring Luke Wilson as a disgruntled and dying young man who buys a home in the neighborhood where he grew up; expecting to die there, alone. Annoyed by his new neighbors, he offers a perpetual stiff-arm to anyone who tries to befriend and encourage him.
Extremely angry at the world, and lacking faith of any kind, Henry (played by Wilson) becomes indignant when his neighbors see an image of Jesus Christ in the water stain on his stucco wall-covering. His indignation is significantly exaggerated when his friends and neighbors start to believe they’ve been healed by God when they touch the “water stain.”
Forget the Catholic theology, this is a must-see family movie. Despite several four-letter words, it is a story of faith, hope and love. It encourages the audience to recognize the importance of believing in something more than just the material world, it does not attempt to hide the misery in the world but is none-the-less a sunny movie, and it continually touts the importance of selflessness and service to others. Likewise, it deals with some important psycho-social issues regarding why people share their faith, and why not.
It’s not very often that a movie inspires me to post a web-log—but this one has done that very thing. It’s a faith-filled romantic-drama that might just elicit a tear (or two). Thumbs up for “Henry Pool Was Here.”
I agree. We rented this after reading your blog and I totally enjoyed the film. I found myself thinking about my childhood as Henry was going back to look at the writing he put on the bridge…neat film.