Movie Review – Old Henry

If you’re hankerin’ to watch a western that flew under the radar, look no further than Old Henry, staring Tim Blake Nelson. This is an overall well-made movie. The only thing better than the writing is the acting and that’s because Tim Blake Nelson is one of the best, and most underrated, actors around these parts. 🙂

How long is the movie? Exactly as long as it needed to be and not a minute extra. The runtime is on the short side, at about 92 minutes. The pacing works perfectly, and every moment serves a purpose. That’s a rare feat these days.

If you haven’t already seen the movie then please come back and drop me a comment after you see it. I’d love to know what others think.

Grade: A+

Analysis

[Spoilers ahead. Don’t read this if you haven’t seen the movie.]

What do we learn in the first scene with Henry, his son Wyatt, and the brother-in-law? Henry is a hard worker, and hard on Wyatt, but fare. Wyatt, is about as rebellious as a young man could be at this time and doesn’t like to work hard. The first thing we see Wyatt do is pick up a rock and put it in the cart to haul off. And he makes it seem like it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done, while his father is standing in a ditch chopping away with a pick-axe.

What’s the last thing we see Wyatt do in the movie? Haul a heavy rock up to the top of a hill to place on his father’s tombstone. No one told him to do it, he just saw that it needed doing. This is character development at its best. We have no idea what Wyatt will do with his life, but we have no doubt that he’s going to take the lessons he learned from his father, especially in the last few days, and make the most out of his life.

The Reveal

The reveal was deftly handled because it didn’t seem like there was anything to reveal, even though there were hints of it. If I paused the movie after each scene to analyze it, it may have been obvious from much earlier in the movie what the reveal would be. But the clues were subtle and covered up. Like trying to follow someone’s trail after a hard rain. The fact that the bad guys were following a trail may have just been part of the story, but it also serves the double purpose of telling the viewer that there is a trail being left throughout the movie that only an astute viewer might notice.

Writing

Potsy Ponciroli wrote and directed the movie. Potsy gave this script a great deal of tender loving care. This is an example of a script ready to be turned into a movie. I would love to talk to Potsy about the drafts that led up to this and how long it took for him to cut and trim everything just so. I feel confident that Potsy knew when there was nothing left to cut or polish in this script. It’s as near to perfect as any script can be. That doesn’t mean it’s the best movie ever. It just means it’s the best movie it could be.

The Story of Who You Are

When we think about what it was like to live in the past we usually think about missing things such as, electricity, hot and cold running water, air conditioning, antibiotics, etc. I could go on, and on, listing things and I’m sure you could too. But something that people rarely think about is identity. This one is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if you wanted to start a new life it wasn’t that hard to get on a horse, ride for three or four days in any direction and settle down in a new town with a new identity. Never mind the debts, or bodies, you left behind. The obverse represents the downside to a lack of identity. Once you get to a new place you’re going to have to build up your social cred all over again. That is unless you have someone local who can vouch for you. If you think social credibility is a big deal now, it’s nothing to what it was 100+ years ago.

I love how Old Henry plays with this concept. Who is the lawman, and who is the thief? And of course, who is Old Henry? It was brilliantly woven into the story.

If this aspect of the movie is something you would like to explore further then the paragon of this genre is The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre), a French film released in 1982. It stars Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye and is directed by Daniel Vigne. The movie is set during the 16th century in rural France. It tells the story of a man who returns to his village after years of absence, claiming to be Martin Guerre. The villagers, including Guerre’s wife, initially accept him, but doubts about his identity eventually arise, leading to a dramatic trial. The film explores themes of identity, deception, and the desire for belonging.

Ratings

This movie has a 7.2/10 on IMDb. That’s not bad for an IMDb rating which I’ve noticed usually trends a little lower than ratings elsewhere. But I’m not sure why. At RottenTomatoes this has a 95% from the critics and 92% from the audience. That’s a little more like it.