Handsome Harry (2009) Reviews

• The Agony of Denial: Consequences

  gradyharp2010-12-06

  HANDSOME HARRY is a brave little film, written by Nicholas T. Proferes and directed by Bette Gordon, a film that should be required viewing as the absurdities of the 'Don't ask, Don't tell' debate continue to divide this country. This is a script so tightly and beautifully constructed that it poses questions to the audience and lets the audience arrive at its own conclusions. It is a searingly intense story, successful in the manner in which the director allowed the cast of extraordinary actors to simply let the tale play out. There is a profound honesty here that is rarely found in other films that take on tough subjects, and without preaching, sermonizing, or taking sides it simply places an incident before our eyes, allowing the incident and its subsequent permutations of its consequences mold the characters we meet. Harry Sweeney (Jamey Sheridan, a brilliant stage actor who should have been considered for an Oscar for this performance) is Handsome Harry - calm, somewhat secretive middle-aged man living in a small town where he is known as a good guy and a good singer to the acquaintances in the town diner. Divorced, father to a son Bobby (Asher Grodman) with whom he has difficulty relating, Harry is considering selling his electronic shop to his sole employee Pauley (Bill Sage) when Bobby arrives from Chicago for a strained weekend visit. The visit is interrupted by a telephone call from Kelley (Steve Buscemi) who is hospitalized with only days to live: Kelley insists he speak with Harry and out of obligation to his old friend Vietnam war buddy, Harry goes out of town for the visit. Kelley shares his tortured secret with Harry: thirty years ago while serving in the Navy Kelley and Harry were in a tight group of sailors - Harry, Kelley, Porter (Aidan Quinn), Rheems (John Savage), Gebhardt (Titus Welliver) and Kagan (Campbell Scott) - and in a drunken brawl all of the the group subjected Kagan to a beating because of homophobia: all of the men participated in the cruel act but one crushed the jazz pianist Kagan's right hand with an armature, destroying the hand from ever performing again. Kelley's reason for calling Harry is that Kelley believes he was the one who crushed Kagan's hand and wants Harry to find Kagan and ask him for forgiveness. Kelley dies after Harry promises o fulfill his mission. Harry sets out to find Kagan on trail of all of his group of fellows who served in Vietnam thirty years ago. We meet each one: Porter is a professor who has distanced himself in name and place from the shame of the incident; Rheems is a wealthy land investor whose marriage is crumbling under the strain of alcohol, homophobia, and dark memories and Harry's unwanted visit results in Rheems throwing his wife Judy (Mariann Mayberry) out along with Harry; Gebhardt has become a evangelistic redneck who also is blinded by homophobia. None of the men will discuss the old incident or assist Harry in defining whether Kelley was responsible for the crushing injuring or not. Harry finds Kagan's address, and when Kagan isn't home he leaves a note with Kagan's housekeeper explaining his visit. Harry returns home, distraught, emotionally exhausted, desiring an end to the lingering nightmare of that beating thirty years ago. After singing in a quartet contest Harry spies Kagan in the audience and the two leave for a dinner in a deserted restaurant. There Kagan shares ALL of the truth about the incident and about his relationship with Harry and the film ends quietly and painfully with the truth being on the table. Every member in the cast is a first class actor, but the profound depth of Jamey Sheridan's recreation of the role of Harry is simply stunning. Buscemi, Quinn, and especially Campbell Scott also provide powerful performances. The film is haunted by the music of Anton Sanko and cinematographer Nigel Bluck sustains the mood of the piece with a fine grasp of just how much of each of the characters' physical features to show to make the story propel. Director Bette Gordon should be honored not only for the brilliance of her direction but also for the courage in sharing this sensitive story that is one of the strongest views of the inequities of the current military/governmental debate about equality in the military. Brilliant film! Grady Harp

  More

• Excellent movie about the crime and its possible forgiveness

  SheWillRememberYourHeart2011-01-23

  I just saw this movie and not knowing much about it, I didn't know what to expect. Whatever my expectations, the movie had surpassed them. The cast is brilliant, the dialog tight, the building of the story towards the climax careful, sensitive and moving. It's the story of a man, "Handsome" Harry (Jamie Sheridan) who didn't know his own life was a failure until he gets a call from an old navy friend (Steve Buscemi), forcing him to examine his life. It leads him on a road trip during which he seeks absolution - officially on his friend's behalf or maybe it's for himself - and has to come to grips with the decisions that he's made, the people that he's hurt and the crime he has committed. At the end of this journey, will he have the courage and strength to overcome the fear that drove him in the past? I suspect the people who gave the movie poor grades were expecting something else entirely, a suspense thriller, and that's why they were disappointed. While there is some suspense here, it is first and foremost a soul-searching, heart-wrenching drama. And I for one feel richer for having seen it. Much like the jazz music that makes the beautiful soundtrack, there is not one note in it that's out of tune.

  More

• Wow - just wow

  GrammarMatters2011-06-30

  I watched this moving while knowing NOTHING about it - and I am VERY glad I did. There are so many movies out there that I always spend lots of time looking through IMDb to decide whether a movie is worth my time or not. First I check the rating, and then if it is over 5.5 I read the summary and maybe some reviews and sometimes the Message board comments. I'm SO GLAD I didn't know anything about this movie when I watched it. I won't spoil the movie for you by pointing out the main conflict the movie takes a long time to get around to telling us all about. But that is what I liked about this movie. It tells the story about a crime that occurred long ago - and we just start to get hints about what really happened - slowly - as the story plays out - and it is rather fascinating to watch the truth come to dawn on the main character. The story is fairly obviously about Harry who is asked by his friend Thomas to do a favour for him on his deathbed and apologize to their long ago friend for something Thomas did that he thought he was going to go to hell for. Harry was drunk the night this fight happened, and he can't remember much of what happened - but what I think is really cool is that by the end of the movie I'm starting to wonder if his mind made him intentionally forget what happened. Sometimes what we've done is so traumatic we choose to forget what we did. Very painful memories from a very long time ago come back to Harry - and parts of this movie really made me cry. This movie deserves 8 or 9 stars - and it is SO, SO much better to see something like this than some shallow characters in a car chase and fights and shootouts, blah blah blah. I loved this movie. It sneaks up on you. It's message is obviously to be honest with yourself and don't let your life pass you by without telling those you love how you feel. Don't miss this movie - and trust me - and take my word for it - please watch this movie before you read any other reviews. It's better to see this movie before you know what it is about. I did - and I'm glad I did.

  More

• Never Be Afraid to Love Someone

  Movies5052011-04-13

  A Vietnam veteran, Harry Sweeney, goes on a quest to help a dying ex-Navy buddy. Instead, Harry unravels a deep, dark, dormant secret that brings understanding – and maybe hope – to two friends who never should have parted ways. Handsome Harry is a perfect example of lean and tight writing. Every frame tells a story. Kudos to director Bette Gordon for taking Nicholas T. Proferes' ponderable screenplay and providing a highly polished and realistic story. This film has nothing to do with the military. It has to do with ignorance, intolerance, and fear. Ignorance, intolerance, and fear exist everywhere. Yet, one man, affectingly played by Campbell Scott - the only man who exudes love - lived his life the way he started it, true to himself. I can only say, "Wow, what a powerful statement director and writer make in the final scene." Here's hoping viewers catch Profere's lessen: Don't wait until you're middle-aged and look back and say, "I wish I had done it differently." Life's too short to be under the thumb of ignorance, intolerance, and fear. Love should guide us all. Never be afraid to love someone. I bow to all the actors, blow a kiss to Ms. Gordon, high-five Nick, and enthusiastically clap to the music creator/director.

  More

• Low budget with strong cast and a great simple story line, a bit awkward in the telling

  secondtake2012-07-05

  Handsome Harry (2009) The title is perfectly understated, and a bit misleading, whatever your first impressions. Harry is the main character, a man around 60 with memories of a brutal beating he and some fellow sailors gave a mate of theirs in the Viet Nam era. Long ago. The main thread of the movie follows him as he revisits each of the participants, including the man who was beaten. With such a solid structure you are in some ways hooked. Each encounter has its own twists. And each time we see, through flashbacks, a sharpening picture of what really happened. It's a fascinating building of a story, even with some weakness here and there in the writing and acting. And key to it all is a misguided homophobia, and what turns out to be a more complicated fear of being outed and a little self-loathing. Some of the characters Harry visits are finely tuned types, well acted. We see how everyone has changed, and how their sense of who they are, alone and to each other, has also changed. Most of all we see Harry come to terms with his own demons on this. Jamey Sheridan plays him with studied restraint, and yet gives the man enough believable nuances to keep it honest. The biggest name in the cast is the first of Harry's encounters, Steve Buscemi, but if you are a fan of his (as you should be) be prepared that his role is really limited. And John Savage appears as one of the group, too. There are some strains in the other actors' parts either because of their ability to pull off a mostly talking movie or because the writing itself stumbles. In particular you'll see Harry barge into a classroom and interrupt the teacher and sort of take over the podium for a minute, and it's so out of character and unlikely it almost punctures the whole movie. But hang in there. The final chapter or two is intense and written with poignancy. And it might surprise some viewers. A strong finish to a good, sometimes lugubrious, somewhat strained telling.

  More