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Old Henry (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Old Henry' is a 2021 American Western film written and directed by Potsy Ponciroli. It stars Tim Blake Nelson as the titular character, a farmer who must protect his son from outlaws, with Scott Haze, Gavin Lewis, Trace Adkins, and Stephen Dorff in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States by Shout! Studios on October 1. It was critically acclaimed, with praise to the story, Ponciroli's direction, and Nelson's performance. The National Board of Review selected the film in its annual list of the Top Ten Independent Films of the year.
Plot
Widower Henry and his son Wyatt live on an average farm in Oklahoma Territory in 1906 near to Henry's brother-in-law Al, with Wyatt chafing at the simple existence of a farmer. After Henry and Wyatt find a lost horse with blood on the saddle, Henry goes to investigate and finds a near-dead man named Curry. Seeing that the man has a gunshot wound, a revolver and a satchel full of cash, he is hesitant at first, but decides to help Curry. He covers their tracks and brings Curry back to the farm, treating his injuries and removing the bullet. Henry uses the surgery as a chance to interrogate Curry, who claims to be a lawman and the sole survivor of a posse that confronted a gang of dangerous outlaws.
Henry ties him up and goes to fetch a doctor, and in the meantime Wyatt sneaks into Henry's room and finds his cache of documents, as well as a fine revolver and some bullets. Wyatt takes Curry's gun and goes target shooting outside, allowing Curry to escape his bonds. Curry overpowers Wyatt, but Henry returns just in time to intervene and ties Curry up again. Henry had turned back after spotting three men investigating the spot he first found Curry, narrowly escaping being caught by them after he spied on them from a wheat field nearby.
Soon after, the trio, led by a man named Ketchum, come to the farm in search of Curry. They claim to be lawmen from Woods County and that Curry is the outlaw, but arouse Henry's suspicions when Ketchum begins asking questions about Henry's own identity and family. Henry does not give up Curry, and the men leave after a tense standoff. That evening, Henry has a conversation with Curry in which Curry reveals detailed knowledge of people known to Henry, which leads Henry to trust his claims and undo some of his restraints. Curry then tells Henry about his experience as a young ranch hand who witnessed the death of Billy the Kid. The house is suddenly attacked by Duggan, one of Ketchum's men. After a game of cat-and-mouse in which Duggan crawls underneath the house to ambush them, Henry rousts him out with a shotgun and then strangles him in the mud as Wyatt watches.
The next morning, Ketchum returns with the rest of his gang, greatly outnumbering Curry, Henry and Wyatt. Curry encourages Henry to surrender and turn him over, telling Henry that it is hopeless and that they should not die for his sake. However, Ketchum has captured Henry's brother-in-law Al and, when Henry refuses to surrender, shoots him in cold blood. Wyatt emerges, enraged, and opens fire, and he and Henry manage to duck back into the house. Henry goes into his room and retrieves his expensive gear, saying "Keep your damn head down, you'll be alright" to Wyatt. Curry recognizes the phrase as something Billy the Kid said to him when he was a young boy, and realizes that Henry is in fact Billy the Kid, who faked his own death with the help of Pat Garrett.
Henry pretends to surrender, and then draws his revolver and shoots Ketchum in the face, killing several other outlaws before diving back into the house and slipping out of the back door. Whilst Curry and Wyatt hold off the remaining gang members, Henry stealthily eliminates several more until only Stilwell, the gang's tracker, is left. Stilwell pretends to surrender but tries to kill Henry with a throwing knife and is shot through the eye.
Henry suddenly comes under fire as Ketchum emerges, revealing that the shot to his face only mangled his cheek. They engage in a running battle in which both men are wounded, but eventually Ketchum runs out of bullets and Henry shoots him in the head. Returning to the house, Henry is about to bandage up the injured Curry when he spots a brand on Curry's arm. Curry shoots Henry in the stomach, admitting that he was a lawman but was corrupt and allied with Ketchum. He had attempted to betray Ketchum after realizing the outlaws were going to kill him once his usefulness had run out. Curry apologizes to Henry for bringing all of this violence to his farm, but then boasts that he will get to be the man who killed Billy the Kid.
Wyatt overhears all this as he is fetching his father's shotgun, and he kills Curry from the doorway before Curry can execute Henry. Wyatt tries to help his father, but Henry tells him that it is too late. Henry speaks earnestly to his son, telling him that the world is changing and Henry has no place in it anymore but that he hoped his son, who raising him had given his life some meaning, would now find a place for himself in it. He dies in Wyatt's arms. Wyatt buries his father next to his mother and leaves the farm along with the cash, two horses, and their few possessions.
Cast
* Tim Blake Nelson as Henry McCarty
* Scott Haze as Curry
* Gavin Lewis as Wyatt
* Trace Adkins as Uncle Al
* Stephen Dorff as Ketchum
* Richard Speight Jr. as Dugan
* Max Arciniega as Stilwell
* Brad Carter as Branigan
* Kent Shelton as Cowardly Gunslinger
Production
In an interview, Tim Blake Nelson said starring in the 2018 Western film 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' taught him how to handle a gun, "I was working with guns every day for about five months to be able to do the pistol tricks." On December 15, 2020, Hideout Pictures and Shout! Studios announced a partnership to produce, finance, and distribute three Westerns, including 'Old Henry' from writer and director Potsy Ponciroli. According to Nelson, he was heating up his food when he came across an email that offered him the title role. He told 'GQ' that his initial response was to say, "Well, it happened. You've been offered a character that's described as old."
During pre-production, Nelson spent six months researching how his character would sound and move. He then spent another six months working on the 100-page screenplay with Ponciroli and two months physically preparing his body to handle a gun, ride a horse, and get in shape to look like a farmer. Nelson's role in the film was confirmed on January 12, 2021. On his performance, he says he "wanted for Henry by the end of the movie to be vastly different from the character he was at the beginning of the movie, and for the audience to never be able to name a single moment where the transformation happens."
Nelson feared the public would negatively compare his role as Henry to his performance as Buster Scruggs, characters he finds to be "opposites". He spoke with Ponciroli about the issue and the pair agreed the film would not feature gunspinning; the final product features one spin during the film's finale that serves as a "punctuation". On January 14, 2021, Stephen Dorff, Trace Adkins, Scott Haze, and Gavin Lewis joined the cast. Principal photography for 'Old Henry' took place in Tennessee between January and March 2021.
Release
'Old Henry' had its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2021. It was released in around 30 theaters in the United States on October 1, 2021. In New York, Steve Buscemi hosted a Q&A session with Nelson at the Quad Cinema on its opening day. On October 8, the film was released through video on demand. It became a sleeper hit on VOD, staying in the top ten on iTunes for two consecutive months following initial release.
Reception
Critical response
In the United States and Canada, 'Old Henry' grossed $42,068 at the box office.
The film's plot and execution received generally positive reviews. From 'TheWrap', Steve Pond said he wished parts of the film were "more expansive" but overall described it as a "beautiful elegy" with a finale that feels "just right." Writing for 'The Hollywood Reporter', David Rooney described the direction of the film as a "well-crafted exercise in old-fashioned but durable genre tropes" that later "evolves into a satisfying reflection on the more complicated, somber realities behind the icons of the Wild West." In a negative review, 'The Guardian' Xan Brooks found it to be too familiar to other Westerns and expressed doubt that the film should have been screened at the Venice Film Festival.
Furthermore, Tim Blake Nelson's performance as the title character received praise. Rooney said Nelson was able to "communicate with pathos both the regret and the steely resolve behind every beady-eyed squint." 'Variety' Owen Gleiberman wrote that the film was "built as a kind of pedestal for Nelson's performance."
Accolades
In December 2021, the National Board of Review selected the film in its annual list of the Top Ten Independent Films of the year.References
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