← Back to Reviews
in
REGARDING HENRY
Harrison Ford has put together an impressive resume since the mid 1970's. appearing in several of the biggest box office hits of all time, but I have to confess that my favorite Harrison Ford performance is in a nearly forgotten gem from 1991 called Regarding Henry, a moving drama of hope and second chances that Ford makes worth watching, despite some really ugly detours in the screenplay.
Ford plays Henry Turner, a brilliant workaholic attorney who has it all: a prestigious position in a Manhattan firm, a beautiful wife and daughter, and lives in a gorgeous penthouse that he never sees. Henry's life is changed forever when he leaves the penthouse one night to buy a pack cigarettes. He walks into a corner store in the process of being robbed and, when he refuses to give up his wallet, gets shot in the head.
Henry miraculously survives the shooting, but the bullet penetrated a particular part of his brain that pretty much controlled most of his basic functions. When Henry finally wakes up, he is unable to speak or walk and can remember nothing about his life before the shooting, including wife Sarah and daughter Rachel. Henry is transferred to a rehabilitation center where he begins to get back his abilities to function as a human and it is decided that it is time for him to return home. This is where things start to get really complicated for Henry and the movie begins to go off course.
The late Mike Nichols, who guided Ford's performance as Jack Trainer in Working Girl three years earlier, is again in the director's chair here and proves that he was one of the best actors' directors ever and definitely draws a performance of depth and sensitivity out of him here, unlike anything we had seen from Ford prior to this. The scenes of Henry's rehab process are meticulously directed, carefully documenting each landmark in his recovery process: the first time he walks and talks, thanks primarily to a terrific physical therapist, but we feel for Henry when he is terrified at the thought of leaving the rehab center and going home with a wife and daughter he doesn't remember. But what makes Henry's process so fascinating is the unpredictability of the return of certain memories...I love that the first thing he remembers about the penthouse is the gray carpeting and that memory gives him the courage to go home.
Unfortunately, even though Henry is aware of it, most of the people in his life are not aware that he is not the person he was before the shooting and that he never will be again and, because of this, Henry is thrust into a lot of squirm-worthy situations that he is just not ready for, especially returning to his position at the law firm, which we instantly see is a mistake, though a contrived plot twist revolving around a case he won before the shooting is supposed to legitimize this, but it really doesn't.
Despite the troubling final third of this movie, Harrison Ford, under the skillful direction of Mike Nichols, makes this film a very smooth experience that produced grins and had me fighting tears as well. Annette Bening impresses in one of her earliest performances as Henry's devoted wife, Sarah and the late Bill Nunn does a star-making turn as Henry's physical therapist. Mikki Allen is also a revelation as Henry's daughter, Rachel...the scene where she teaches him to read and their scene in the library are a joy. The story takes some very bumpy detours, but Ford and Nichols deliver the goods.
Harrison Ford has put together an impressive resume since the mid 1970's. appearing in several of the biggest box office hits of all time, but I have to confess that my favorite Harrison Ford performance is in a nearly forgotten gem from 1991 called Regarding Henry, a moving drama of hope and second chances that Ford makes worth watching, despite some really ugly detours in the screenplay.
Ford plays Henry Turner, a brilliant workaholic attorney who has it all: a prestigious position in a Manhattan firm, a beautiful wife and daughter, and lives in a gorgeous penthouse that he never sees. Henry's life is changed forever when he leaves the penthouse one night to buy a pack cigarettes. He walks into a corner store in the process of being robbed and, when he refuses to give up his wallet, gets shot in the head.
Henry miraculously survives the shooting, but the bullet penetrated a particular part of his brain that pretty much controlled most of his basic functions. When Henry finally wakes up, he is unable to speak or walk and can remember nothing about his life before the shooting, including wife Sarah and daughter Rachel. Henry is transferred to a rehabilitation center where he begins to get back his abilities to function as a human and it is decided that it is time for him to return home. This is where things start to get really complicated for Henry and the movie begins to go off course.
The late Mike Nichols, who guided Ford's performance as Jack Trainer in Working Girl three years earlier, is again in the director's chair here and proves that he was one of the best actors' directors ever and definitely draws a performance of depth and sensitivity out of him here, unlike anything we had seen from Ford prior to this. The scenes of Henry's rehab process are meticulously directed, carefully documenting each landmark in his recovery process: the first time he walks and talks, thanks primarily to a terrific physical therapist, but we feel for Henry when he is terrified at the thought of leaving the rehab center and going home with a wife and daughter he doesn't remember. But what makes Henry's process so fascinating is the unpredictability of the return of certain memories...I love that the first thing he remembers about the penthouse is the gray carpeting and that memory gives him the courage to go home.
Unfortunately, even though Henry is aware of it, most of the people in his life are not aware that he is not the person he was before the shooting and that he never will be again and, because of this, Henry is thrust into a lot of squirm-worthy situations that he is just not ready for, especially returning to his position at the law firm, which we instantly see is a mistake, though a contrived plot twist revolving around a case he won before the shooting is supposed to legitimize this, but it really doesn't.
Despite the troubling final third of this movie, Harrison Ford, under the skillful direction of Mike Nichols, makes this film a very smooth experience that produced grins and had me fighting tears as well. Annette Bening impresses in one of her earliest performances as Henry's devoted wife, Sarah and the late Bill Nunn does a star-making turn as Henry's physical therapist. Mikki Allen is also a revelation as Henry's daughter, Rachel...the scene where she teaches him to read and their scene in the library are a joy. The story takes some very bumpy detours, but Ford and Nichols deliver the goods.