Starring Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell. Written by Albert Torres. Directed by Mark Pellington. (PG) 98 min. Opens Aug 22.
A terminally ill man’s attempt to quietly drink himself to death gets waylaid by some severely stained stucco in Henry Poole is Here. Within hours of purchasing a raggedy-looking house in the LA suburbs, our eponymous sad sack (Luke Wilson) is beset by an excitable neighbour (Adrianna Barrazza) who claims to see the face of Jesus Christ on the wall in the backyard.
It’s just a matter of time — about 100 minutes, give or take a sunny epilogue — before Henry learns to open himself up to the wonder of the universe and accept the possibility of miracles. (Surely there is nothing to be gained by turning to medical science, depicted here as the province of the incompetents as a nurse mutilates Henry’s arm looking for a vein.) He’ll also charm his other, hotter, whiter neighbour (Radha Mitchell) and her standard-issue movie moppet (Morgan Lily) and exorcise his childhood demons in the bargain.
Mark Pellington, a director with some visual facility (Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies were great-looking trash), strains to animate Alberto Torres’ platitude-strewn script, but his craft is as dubious as the underlying wish-your-troubles-away message. The use of tinkling piano and random pop tunes to drive the action (“Song 2”?) is particularly egregious.