Regarding Henry

From the Star Warsand Indiana Jones trilogies to Witness and Working Girl, Ford has had a knack for picking the right scripts, and this is no exception. It's a Hollywood story if ever there was one, but Nichols -- with a list of credits that reads like a partial list of some of the most affecting motion pictures ever made -- is a master of the game: his sure technique draws the viewer in and never lets go until the final credits begin their crawl. Ford, as usual, is a delight to watch; his portrayals of both Henry the Ruthless Lawyer and Henry the Reborn are dead-on, unerring in their accuracy. Bening is likewise excellent: as Henry's wife, struggling to cope with the sudden loss of both the husband she knew and the income he brought in, she's at once confused, compassionate and powerful. It's a far cry from her previous role in The Grifters, but that just reinforces the character's believability. The only real qualm I have with Henry concerns how quickly Nichols glosses over the rehabilitation scenes -- a montage here, a touching utterance there, and all of a sudden Henry is up and about with nothing missing but his memory. Naturally, this was done to cut to the meat of the story, but still… Regarding Henry is, as I mentioned, a Hollywood story, but Nichols and his team pull it all off very nicely. The sleeper hit of the summer? Could be.