Reviews (45)

Ambiton, talent, art, responsibility, influence and love...
I didn't expect to like this video as much as I did. It has all the elements that I usually don't like in independent films. It moved too slow, it tried too hard to be arty, it used disgusting images, and it took a long long while to get to the point. I was bored occasionally and considered shutting it off, but then something would hook me again and I'd find myself intrigued and fascinated.

A shy and geek-like garbage man named Simon Grimm lives with his depressed mother and wild oversexed sister. Then, Henry Fool rents their basement apartment and everyone's life changes. He's loud, egomaniacal, weird, intelligent, has an extraordinary vocabulary and some of his long speeches are almost pure poetry. He has notebooks with him and tells Simon he's been writing a long confession that he won't show anyone but thinks of as a masterpiece. He influences Simon to start writing too.

The story is much more complex but involves ambition, talent, art, responsibility, influence and love. All this is brought out with a full cast of wonderful characters. The acting was exceptionally good. The casting excellent. The story was strange but very real. Parts of it skirted on pure genius. And after it was over I was moved and haunted by the questions it raised about life and art.

What a bunch of Henry Fools
If Hartley were reading this page of reviews, he would be laughing himself silly. So many of the reviewers here could be Henry Fool that it's pathetic.

The first thing one has to realize about this movie (and which should be obvious to anyone who was watching even halfway closely) is that Henry Fool is full of it. The sheer irony of the film is that he is nothing of what he makes himself out to be (a tortured genius, a misunderstood writer, a callous scoundrel, etc.) and simultaneously everything that he rails against (primarily the pseudo-intellectual elite). Henry is the epitome of the pretentious slacker plaguing modern America - always complaining, always about to do something momentous, always focusing on his/her needs, always feeding off of others, and never providing an unselfish moment for others. Henry makes time for Simon only because it amuses him to do so - he feels superior to Simon, even in the face of Simon's awakening greatness, but once Simon becomes independent of him (witness the negotiation scene between Simon and the publishing mogul), then Henry dismisses Simon as part of the world that doesn't understand his "unique" and lamentably absent genius.

But, to his defense, Henry does exhibit flashes of true humanity. He does love Fay, although he is incapable of showing it for more than a few minutes at a time. He is genuinely concerned about the abused Pearl and her mother, although it unwittingly gets him into a larger mess than anticipated. In his attempts to show his artistic sensibilities at the start of the film, Henry unwittingly sparks Simon's genius by encouraging him to write down any thoughts that strike him, although its clear that Henry expects nothing of import. Henry is the catalyst for Simon, Fay, and others' lives, and the fact that he does so little while talking so much is part of the ironic fun in this film - those who speak the least (Simon, Henry's son, and Daughter Dang) are the ones who do the most.

At the bottom of it all, Henry's biggest failing to refusing to accept his mistakes and crimes. He claims unrepentance but feels a deep-seated shame that comes out in his excuses - "People like us, Simon, great writers, can't be tied down to the everyday mundane existence of the common rabble" is a speech that resurfaces time and time again as a reason to avoid everyday labor, and the fact that he claims that his affair with the 13-year-old is part of some conspiracy against him is symptomatic of his refusal to come to terms with himself.

The nature of discontent and how it brings out our seamier qualities is exemplified in Henry and other characters. The characters who accept their lives as given are the ones who succeed, while those who are discontented are driven to crime, drug and alcohol abuse, denigration of their families, and suicide "Does it matter that it's not remarkable?" asks Simon of his clinically depressed mother. "Yes," she replies, shortly before her death.

In short, Henry is a fool - he knows what is right, but he does wrong for the gluttonous joy of it. He knows what he should do to succeed in the world but chooses to live off of others because it would be too much effort otherwise. He has every reason to be content (a house, a lovely wife, a loving son, and a steady if menial job) but prefers his cynical and self-destructive worldview. He is everything that the world tells us can bring no good - and yet, he does manage to procreate two great things of beauty while living with the Grims - an amazing poet and a kindly, intelligent son. In the end, Henry is provided with a choice - to either run from his troubles as he has always done or to face the music and be a mensch. Which does he choose? is the question that Hartley leaves us with, along with the rest of this quirky, bumpy film.

While a good show, "Henry Fool" is not as engaging as "Trust" nor as offbeat as "Amateur." However, it is still a film worth watching. Forget the over-wraught analytical nonsense that the some many of the other reviewers and I have spewed - instead, watch this film and see if you can recognize a Henry Fool in your life.

The Thin Line Between Artists and Fakes
Awesome.

This is one of my top-five favorite films of all time.

I own this on VHS and I will buy the DVD as well.

It's understandable that some intelligent, creative people may dislike this film. The movie demonstrates how one can be brilliant, skilled and dedicated (Henry), but ultimately unable to deliver.

Henry's grasp of language and apparent intellectual depth are so engaging, we are fooled into believing his own claims to greatness. In a world crawling with self-proclaimed writers, artists and poets, it's a painful truth that talent and desire often do not lead to success.

But all of this is really just a plot vehicle for the overriding themes of the movie.

In the end, this is a film about friendship, loyalty, pride and family. And it's beautifully done.

I've watched it several times and I'll admit that it drags a bit in places, but I still love it.

Pseudo/quasi/wanna-be...
First, only pseudo intellectuals are trite enough to accuse others of being pseudo-intellectuals. It's simply taking the easy way out. An intellectual does not take the easy way out. Hal Hartley does not take the easy way out. The same goes for quasi-artistes and wanna-be critics. I agree with "Stuart Scott". If you need it all spelled out for you, who are you to criticize another's intellect? Henry Fool asks, and answers the question "what is art", in a provocative manner. It's at once beautiful and pretentious, like all good art. We have a poseur extraordinaire: Henry Fool, and an "all too obviously talented" poet: Simon Grimm, using one another, as is the traditional arrangement between the ambitious and the gifted, to advance their own positions in the outer world while learning of their own significance in their own inner world. No punches are pulled, no notoins left unexplored here. This is the workshop: where the real art behind the art is made. Anyone who can't appreciate this is a pseudo/quasi/wanne-be fool of epic porportions and miniscule importance. Okay, that's mean. Sorry. But two words for the person who thought a white working class poet was "unrealistic", and then thought the movie was "pseudo artistic". First, since when does Art have to be realistic? Are you a bolshevik? Second, Have you ever heard of Charles Bukowski? Or Jim Carroll? Or Henry Miller? Jeez, you put pearls before swine and look what happens. Sorry, mean again. And trite too.

Intriguing.
I first saw part of HENRY FOOL on either the Sundance Channel or the Independent Film Channel. I'm not sure what it was, but the filmed sucked me in. There are some scenes that are fairly shocking (Faye and Henry consummanting their relationship as Simon finds his and Faye's mother lying dead in the bathtub). However, the scenes are filmed in such a way that they don't seem as horrifying as they would be in real life. The film addresses some big issues, e.g. what is the nature of an artist?; has a delightful cast, contains some extremely intelligent and witty dialogue; and has a great score.

The best thing I can say about the film is that I hadn't seen the whole movie when I purchased the video and after watching all of HENRY FOOL, decided I liked the movie enough to keep it. ... Read more

Description

A crackpot ex-nun who writes pornographic short stories crosses paths with an amnesiac wandering the streets of New York City. When they set out to uncover his identity, they come face to face with his unsavory past – including a vengeful porno actress and ruthless corporate assassins hot on their trail. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A Masterpiece
Restraint wrings our emotion. Jumping up and down can express joy, but a perfect ballet segment will convey ecstasy so complete the dance pratically creates it. Subtlety often can explode emotions larger than realism.

Hal Hartley understands this. The characters in his film do not talk like real people. Their speech is subdued, flat, and usually bluntly honest. Their small words carry mountains of meaning.

Most mystery films focus on the identity of the bad guy. This film instead chooses to explore the bad guy's identity. The film opens with him laying unconscious on a cobblestone street. He awakes but has no idea who he is. With this premise, the audience always knows who the bad guy is. He is in almost every frame of the feature. The rest of the film sets about discovering who the bad guy is.

I'm avoiding the film's plot. Telling too much about this film steals many of its pleasures, although I have enjoyed it each of the ten times I have seen it. Most scenes are arranged as artfully as a painting, the actors understand and enlarge Hartley's vision, and the music, ranging from Liz Phair to Pavement, is excellent.

This film may well be the best the ninties have to offer. Hartley's own Simple Men is one of the only other real contenders.

Gets better with repeated viewings
Like all Hal Hartley films (I've seen Flirt and Henry Fool, but neither are as good as Amateur), this is a decidedly odd and mannered movie. The first time I saw it, the far-fetched plot and stilted characterizations are a bit unnerving. This is an ambitious project--Hartley explores the fall of man (an event which literally precedes the film) and original sin in the context of an off-kilter Manhattan thriller. There are some hilariously delivered deadpan one-liners (Martin Donovan: "You're a nyphmomanic and you've never had sex? How could that be?" Isabelle Huppert: "I'm choosy.") But the heart of the movie revolves around the title, and how, try as we might, we cannot escape who we are--Hartley seems to suggest that humanity's flaws are indelible, and despite the guises we might adopt, we are only novices. Amateur ranks low on entertainment value (see Air Force One instead), but a great thinking person's film: brainy, sly, somber, and at times (especially the ending), heartbreaking. Hartley's beguiling screenplay unravels its original insights upon repeated viewings, and it makes the effort worthwhile.

Best Hartley Ever
This is my favorite Hal Hartley film, several of the scenes do not fail to bring a tear to my eye or give me a feeling of frisson and I saw it for the first time in 1995. I think that should say it all.

Purist Hartley fans seem to believe that Trust is the quintessential Hartley, and while I agree that the film is great, Amateur has a much more complicated plot and explores more complicated issues.

The film is all about ontology. What is the nature of being? Can one change? What is memory? Is there an essential nature to existence or is existence mutable depending on experience?

Don't think, however, this is some weird indie/foreign flick heavy on the meaning. Hartley manages to pose all of the above questions within a film that is quirky and funny and deadpan and sad and wonderful all at the same time.

Yes, I know this man.

The mark of Hal (Hartley)
Here's the trademark Hartley quirkiness that fuses bullets with uncertainty, a fried-brain accountant and two sexy women, semi-stagey dialogue and neatly dressed corporate hit men. Here's Parker Posey in a small role, Michael Imperioli (of The Sopranos) in a smaller one, and Martin Donovan as the amnesiac lead male who gets involved with Isabelle Huppert's character, an ex-nun who's turned to writing porno fiction--unfortunately, bad enough to make her publisher reject her work.

And here's Elina Lowensohn as well as a porno actress who wants out of her tawdry (though well-paying) life, whose sad eyes and possible death wish clash with her overly sensuous demeanor. How can all these disparate elements, you ask, ever possibly blend into a whole?

An excellent question. In Hartley's film, they do and they don't. Nobody really knows anything for sure; everyone here is an amateur at life, trying to figure out what to do next--or not knowing how to do anything next. Thomas (Martin Donovan's character) can't remember his name or what he did in the past. Isabelle (Huppert's character) knows intuitively she's linked to Sofia (Elina Lowensohn's role) but she doesn't know how. The accountant, Edward (Damian Young) seems self-assured until he has his brains fried and then he's completely unpredictable.

There's shooting and torture and a little love making. There's uncertainty or puzzlement around every corner. We never really know a whole lot, Hartley's saying, and because of that, you could, in fact, meet a porno-loving ex-nun. You could be an accountant whose neat orderly life is scrambled into violent outbursts and uncontrollable behavior. You could wind up becoming a man who doesn't remember his name and makes some effort to find out what it is, but not enough to discover it.

So is this a coherent film? Hartley is interested more in character than coherence. Structure is not as important as how people actually impact each other, how they impinge on each other's lives. It is, he says, this random colliding of personalities that determines what will happen; people are so complex and so full of possibilities that things just...happen as a result of them being brought together.

Once the viewer accepts this perspective, everything falls into place. Or randomly shifts into place--falling here, rising there, making a jagged turn when you least expect it.

This is less satisfying than Hartley's masterpiece Henry Fool, but it is nevertheless a very intriguing film and definitely worth seeing.

An amateur rewiew
I was channel-surfing when I landed on IFC showing a "comedy-drama" called Amateur. It was nearly an hour in, and there was this scene of these two geeky accountant types arguing about the merits of various cell-phones while using the wires from a floorlamp to electrocute a Christopher Lloyd look-alike. High-concept, but decidedly "B", I thought. But as the movie progressed, I began to notice the deliberation that led to the quirky stagger of the film. The style itself was saying things that the action couldn't begin to convey. This was high art! And it was funny in an intentionally-unintentional way.
The plot, about an ex-nun who now writes bad pornography, a porn queen with a grudge, and an ex-pornongrapher with amnesia, each searching for their identity, is interesting, but it doesn't begin to tell of the impressive stylishness of this movie. Amateur sucks you in like Beckett mixed with "letters to Penthouse", and leaves you satisfied on both accounts. If this sounds good to you, you should check it out. It shows on IFC quite frequently. Oh also, this movie turned me into a freak for Elina Lowensohn. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

The films of Hal Hartley, New York's modern beatnik cinema laureate, are not for everyone. His self-consciously clever ping-pong dialogue sounds like a cross between song lyrics and Samuel Beckett, while his deadpan direction gives a wry cast to it all. It's romantic comedy skewed through a thoroughly modern perspective, and it sprung fully formed in his debut feature. Gloomy redheaded pixie Adrienne Shelly, a neurotic high school student fixated on doomsday scenarios, falls for the tall, dark, and mysterious Robert Burke, a black-clad, philosophy-spouting mechanic who is constantly mistaken for a priest and rumored to be a convicted murderer.

An enigmatic, intellectually playful farce played with ironic understatement, Hartley's austere film was shot on the cheap with a handsome, restrained style and directed with an approach straddling verbal slapstick and modernist irony. Shelly mixes the goofy, obsessive distractions of a screwball heroine with smarts, determination, and hardball negotiating skills, while Burke's quiet calm and confidence radiates warmth and sincerity even while playing the loner. Hartley explores the line between truth and rumor, and he takes satirical swipes at the culture of cash and contracts--yet for all his irony he remains an optimist. For all its hip '90s attitude, the unbelievable truth is that Hartley is a romantic at heart. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (10)

...at last, a Hal Hartley feature film on DVD!
When I heard about a year ago that Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" is going to be out on DVD in 2001, I feared some low quality production - but this release should prove worthy for this masterpiece. The picture will be 1.85:1 anamorphic and hopefully the image quality is going to be excellent considering Anchor Bay's good reputation... Having been the directorial feature film debut for acclaimed director Hal Hartley, the film does not long for any big extras to be on the disc - an audio commentary would have been illusory - but we do get an interview with Hal, and the theatrical trailer of course. This is definitely a disc to get for all Hal Hartley fans, and the only thing that could make me even happier would be more DVD releases of his movies: Trust, Simple Men, Amateur, Flirt, his short films, etc... I'm desperately waiting!!

The Best Movie My Brother Ever Bought Me
The Unbelievable Truth is the only movie I have ever seen that captures the exact feeling of falling hard in love with someone that you hardly know. Ah, planetary gears and Robert Burke...What's a girl to do?! It's a truly funny film and it turned me into a Hal Hartley [director] fan.

My favorite Hartley Film
If you like Trust and Simple Men then you'll love this film. Personally I love all of Hartley's works, but to me these three films just go so well together. They're all earlier works and in these films you witness an incredibley inspired director do more with a low budget film than most high paid directors could ever dream of doing. I'd also like to say that if you've never seen a Hal Hartley film then this is probably the best point to start out at.

Unbelievable Fun
Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.

Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively - and simultaneously - complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot - culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)

As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.

The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).

Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

rereleased at last.
As in The Book of Life, Hartley exaggerates the limitations he's given so that they seem like a style. And, they are. Burke isn't the block of wood he seemed to be the first time I saw this, and Adrian Shelley crawls under your skin and lays eggs that hatch days, weeks, and even months later. And the script? Hard to do it justice, but I will say that this is one for repeated viewings. Don't rent it, buy it! You won't be sorry.

Also available on VHS again. Finally. ... Read more

Description

What do you do if your father, a former all-star shortstop and mad bomber anarchist, breaks out of jail? Go after him, of course! Two brothers trek through the deep, dark wilds of Long Island, only to discover that sometimes even the oddest things really are just what they seem. Directed by independent film favorite Hal Hartley (The UnbelievableTruth, Amateur, Trust) Starring Robert John Burke (Tombstone, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind), Bill Sage (American Psycho, Boiler Room), Karen Sillas (The Sopranos, CSI Miami), Elina Lowensohn (Schindler's List, Nadja), and Martin Donovan (Insomnia, The Opposite of Sex). ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Should be on a Top-100 List to see
Perfect in it's balance of unnatural dialog and incredible insight into life and relationships, this is a fabulous movie. As surreal and funny as Raising Arizona, Simple Men's subtle humor isn't quite as redundantly over-the-top. If you appreciate dry wit and intelligent rapport, you are in the right vicinity.

Although I love his films, Hartley isn't for everyone. The obscure dialog and sparse camera work is tailored for artistic sensibilities.

Why isn't this film maker famous?
As a film fan with a brand new DVD player, my first priority in begining my movie library was to obtain a copy of 'Simple Men', and another Hal Hartley film, 'The Unbelievable Truth'. I have been unable to track down the latter, but was happy to find more Hartley films available. I believe fans of 'Repo Man' and 'Clerks' would be very pleased with 'Simple Men'. I just hope Hartley's great films make onto the more durable DVD format. Hartley fans need to unite!

poor effort
This is one of Hartley's lesser efforts.
He recycles characters and mannerisms to
the point of tedium. It's too bad
considering his many other fine films.

Amazing
A few years ago I was looking for some movie in TV when in wrong move I put one of this channels you never watch cos the quality of the image is bad and the movies are in my spoken languaje (spanish, I prefer with subtitles). I don't remember what scene but I remember the face of Robert John Burke from Robocop III, talking some very clever dialogues. After just a few minutes I couldn't change the channel till the movie ends leaving me absolutely impress.
Just a few weeks later by the same reason I catch "Trust" and from this same moment I became fan of Hal Hartley.
Why?
Because after years watching more than one hundred different movies of any style and director, Simple men and the rest of the Hartley's work show me another vision of life and another way to make movies, thinking more in a good and very deep script with a few good actors than a good budget with great special effects.
It reminds me the movies of Terrence Malick, because in the chaos of the existence both directors show the path of the real survivors, not those guys who are born to be heroes, just those one only wanna some moment of peace and true love, that's it's more than all the glory of the universe.

Simple Men on DVD
For all you Hal Hartley fans who have desired having a copy of Simple Men on DVD, your time has come. Simple Men will be released on DVD widescreen format January 27, 2004. I can't wait to get my copy!!! ... Read more

Reviews (22)

All future generations shall see this movie
"The Book of Life" as most reviewers say here it's very thought provoking, and powerful film, and it's like a dream that in the rest of your life, you shall never forget, every human being on this planet should see it, the music, the camera work, the script, the acting, make this movie feel very real, i strongly recommend you to buy the DVD, not the VHS,on VHS the movie almost looses it's power, but in any format specially on DVD, it's still captivating, on amazon, now "The Unbeliveable Truth" another movie by our dear friend Hal Hartley has camed up, and as this movie it's one of his best movies, also i also strongly recommend you to buy the soundtrack, and if you loved this movie, or at least liked it, check out "Ghost in the Shell", "Henry Fool" or "Princess Mononoke".

Excellent New Years Eve Movie
This is a superb film by Hal Hartley. Part of a European project on views of the millenium, Hartley submits a film that only an American could make. It is very slick, due in part to his use of digital film. The music complements the scenes perfectly (and the soundtrack makes a great CD too!). The movie traces an introspective Jesus on New Years Eve trying to end the world (think of it as the old black and white The Horn Blows and Midnight redone for the 21st century). In presenting the story the movie is a travelogue for NYC- and has an excellent NY feel- from the hotel bar, to the times square music store, to the Russian restaurant (note that the lights say TRUTH and FAITH in Russian) and in the street. It is uniquely American (in the millenium film group) in that it plays off the city, the law, and the business deal to make its point.

This movie humanises Jesus, but at the same time avoids the intentional controversy around, say, a Last Temptation of Christ. In addition, the character of the devil is really a joy to watch. This movie will make you think.

The only weakness is a rather sappy ending. I suppose it is a tricky film to end, but I found all but the last 5 minutes on the staten island ferry to be wonderful, but those last five were really not worthy of the rest of the film.

beyond belief
Living in England, I doubted I would ever get to see this short, let along actually own it. This is a multiregional release, so us Limeys can purchase the DVD as well as you darned Yankees. The film itself is only an hour or so, but succeeds on every level - there's not an ounce of fat on it. A freewheeling take on millenial apocalypse, it stars Hartley veteran (and all round object of desire) as, appropiately, God versus Thomas Jay Ryan's delicious Satan. A superb supporting cast including PJ Harvey (a revelation) and Hartley's better half Miho Nikado help bolster this humorous and theologically inventive piece into the realms of pure cinematic joy. Thomas Jay Ryan's Satanic deliveries to camera are superb. His best film? Quite possibly. Go on, shoot me. Reccomended without hesitation to all.

touching and thoughtful
I bought this DVD a couple years ago. Being a PJ Harvey fan, I was curious to see her acting debut. Well, turned out to be her only role actually, as she hasn't acted since. She did a fine job, certainly didn't embarrass herself anyway. I was familiar with Hal Hartley, but hadn't seen anything by him prior to this movie. I've since seen 'Henry Fool' and enjoyed that. The same lead in that film plays Satan in this film and does a good job. He's quite amusing.

My initial reaction to this film was a little indifferent. Somewhat amusing and interesting, but not much beyond that. I've watched it several times since then, in bits and pieces mostly, and I enjoy it much more now.

I do share some of the complaints about the jerky camera motion, which gets annoying quickly for me. I like some of the other unique touches, like the microphone set-up throughout the movie in various locations for the Devil to pontificate from. It was a risky maneuver, but it works here.

I thought the last scene was quite touching, with Jesus on a barge, tossing the "book of life" into the water as he contemplates the fate of mankind. That speech makes me tear-up everytime!

For those interested in getting the DVD, just be aware that there are no extras on this disc. Maybe that's good news. I know sometimes I find the extras to be a burden as you feel obligated to watch all the extras. I strongly endorse the soundtrack (if you can find it). Lots of good stuff there.

If you are a fan of either Hartley or PJ Harvey for that matter, I see no reason why you shouldn't watch this movie. I really think it's worth owning too, if you are a big fan of either.

typical Hal Hartley
Martin Donovan (Trust) plays Jesus and Thomas Jay Ryan (Henry Fool) is the Devil as the clock ticks down on the last day of the world in Manhattan. Jesus agonizes over unlocking the seven seals of the apocalypse on his Apple laptop, verbally battles the Devil, and walks around NYC with Magdalene (PJ Harvey) on this most eventful of days.

This is a typical Hal Hartley film -- incredible premise, great actors, and creative but cheap production. I enjoyed the film even though the glaring lights and jerky camera got old -- at just over 60 minutes you don't have time to get too annoyed :-)

Extras are minimal -- credits and filmographies for Hartley and Donovan.

A worthwhile addition to Hartley's ouevre but as often happens with this talented director, one feels that the potential was greater than the execution. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Writer-director Hal Hartley (Henry Fool, The Book of Life) has loosened his usual arch style, but the results are no less distinctive. Sarah Polley (Go, The Sweet Hereafter) plays Beatrice, a naive young reporter who is sent by a huge media conglomerate to investigate the disappearance of a camera crew in Iceland. Eventually she finds an immortal but depressed and alcoholic monster (Robert John Burke) who wants nothing more than to die. Beatrice agrees to help him find the one man who can kill him, and she draws the monster out into an invasive media spotlight. No Such Thing is maybe too ambitious; the story tackles not just the media and world unrest, but even the history of mankind. Still, like most of Hartley's work, the movie remains uniquely engaging, a delicate mix of irony and sincerity. Also starring Helen Mirren (Gosford Park) and Julie Christie (Afterglow). --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Ever Been A Human?
I laughed, I cried, I thought it was and is brilliant. Oh yeah, I fell in love with Martin Donovan. Hal Hartley saw inside my brain with this film. Jude (Donovan as college professor) falls for Sophie (his student), Jude (upset with himself and his life) is irritated with pal Henry for getting kicked out of college and getting "..a job in a bookstore".

Literary references, lust, cool music, spontaneous dancing, woeful action, marriage proposals, reality from the mouth of a homeless woman in red rubber boots... you recognize the characters as more than people like people you once met or now know, you discover yourself. So get it already!

Simply awesome!
The first I watched this film, it created a sensation that could not be matched with other films; Martin Donovan is terrific! Blending a deadpan stylistic along with a creative script, this film is a must!

Poetry Disguised as Film
Poets with an appreciation for life above the poverty line wisely select more frequented media like music, movies, or monology as their vehicle. The life of the most celebrated poets are still awash in Ramen and rent. Hartley's films are dense with pause-rewind-replay a line dialogue almost to a fault. I used to take myself as seriously as Hartley's roster of misfits sporting designer melancholy personas and crippled by philosphical dilemmas that serve as a nappy gnarled dreadlock for the movie to comb out. I loved Hartley's fims in my 20s. Now 39 I revisit with some wincing but not enough for me to change my mind that this and his other films are filled with true human wisdom and many revelations put into words for any willingly troubled liver of a non-illusion buffered life to intend to jot down but not find a pen within reach.

Typical brilliant Hal Hartley
"Survivng Desire", along with the three shorts are some of Hartley's earliest work. But even at this early stage, Harley's gifts are clearly visable. I first saw the shorts some years ago as part of the PBS series "Alive from Off Center" and was mesmerized. Hal Hartley is one of America's truly great directors and his ability to pull such engaging performances out of his cast is a complete pleasure to watch. His style of film making probably most closesly resembles that of Robert Bresson, in its setup and excecution. But Hartley's point of view is totally original and for that, every one of his films has been a completely rewarding experience...

it's all here...
It IS all here.
The be-all end-all "relationship" that we are all programmed and taught and "gened" for in a nutshell.
This film shows the "relationship" as it shuns gravity, takes orbit and then spins off into space.
It is just desire that brings us together after all.
Lust, trust, anger, forgiveness, revenge, and the life after it all (the REAL gravity); this piece of art knows its subjects.
you really have to see this to know you've lived it. ... Read more