X
- 2021
- Not Rated
- Shout! Factory
- 1 h 39 m
- 2021
- Not Rated
- Shout! Factory
- 1 h 39 m
Summary Old Henry is an action western about a widowed farmer and his son who warily take in a mysterious, injured man with a satchel of cash. When a posse of men claiming to be the law come for the money, the farmer must decide who to trust. Defending a siege of his homestead, the farmer reveals a talent for gun-slinging that surprises everyone...
Directed By: Potsy Ponciroli
Written By: Potsy Ponciroli
- 2021
- Not Rated
- Shout! Factory
- 1 h 39 m
- 2021
- Not Rated
- Shout! Factory
- 1 h 39 m
Old Henry
69
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary Old Henry is an action western about a widowed farmer and his son who warily take in a mysterious, injured man with a satchel of cash. When a posse of men claiming to be the law come for the money, the farmer must decide who to trust. Defending a siege of his homestead, the farmer reveals a talent for gun-slinging that surprises everyone...
Directed By: Potsy Ponciroli
Written By: Potsy Ponciroli
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
69
72% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
28% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
69
72% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
28% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The ensemble is uniformly excellent, but this is Tim Blake Nelson’s showcase from the moment he appears onscreen, and he delivers world-weary greatness every step of the way.
The Western is a genre weighted down with dark history, and Henry is a man in the same position, haunted to a degree that Nelson makes transfixing.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 55 User Ratings
7.1
76% Positive
42 Ratings
42 Ratings
18% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
5% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 55 User Ratings
7.1
76% Positive
42 Ratings
42 Ratings
18% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
5% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Best Western ive seen sinse bone tomahawk. Go in blind, I beg you. You're welcome
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It’s a film that creaks as reassuringly as leather.
Eventually—about the time it demonstrates Henry’s expertise as a killer of men, in several well-done action mini-sequences—we learn the details of Henry’s past, and your overall enjoyment of the movie may hinge on whether or not you’re willing to, as they say, go with it.
Ponciroli shows natural flair for holstered and unholstered suspense (if not always story logic), plus he’s got a worthy partner in the muted exteriors and sparsely lit interiors of John Matysiak’s cinematography, and a cast that dutifully plays along with every stare-down and line of colorfully poetic cowboy dialogue.
As it stands, there’s a healthy amount to admire and for some it may be enough to scratch a certain itch. But much of Old Henry feels a lot like its protagonist: worn-out, weathered, and old.
Old Henry is a determinedly low-aiming affair.
A western that can't boast of being really substantial but has a leading actor that gives it a much more interesting and, above all, convincing identity, because you can hardly poke holes in its credibility even when the story pressures you to overlook some of its plot ups and downs.
If you're a fan of westerns, I highly recommend it, and if not, it's worth a look for Tim Blake Nelson's acting work.
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This slow paced western holds few surprises in such an oversaturated genre. Still the cast and dialogue keep things interesting. Downsides are the low budget, average cinematography and poor action choreography. You can feel the passion that went into it though. Worth a watch.
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(Mauro Lanari)
I was not exalted by this intimist and masculine, crepuscular and minimalist approach to the classic (micro-)western, from "The Searchers" to "Unforgiven", from Andrew Dominik ("The Assassination of Jesse James") to now too many others, deconstructing its mythology or taking it as a metacinematographic example to talk about the present that unredeemably obliges to settle accounts with a repressed past.
Report
Some movies are so bad they're good. Old Henry isn't that. It's poorly written, shot, directed, and edited. Tim Blake Nelson apparently showed up to set; that's about the most that can be said about his performance. Stephen Dorff was truly enjoyable; you can almost imagine you're watching a decent movie during the moments when Stephen Dorff and only Stephen Dorff is on the screen. Beyond that, every performance fails miserably and every single moment as written and executed suggests that if this wasn't the writer-director's first attempt at a film, it should probably be their last.
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Production Company
Hideout Pictures,
Shout! Factory,
Shout! Studios
Release Date Oct 1, 2021
Duration 1 h 39 m
Rating Not Rated
Tagline You can't bury the past.
Awards
Almeria Western Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
