HENRY HORRID!
Star Wars director’s weird family drama belongs in a galaxy far, far away
I DOUBT Star Wars fans will be queueing round the block to see this weepie about a kooky single mum and her precocious son.
Just in case any of them got past that first paragraph, I’ll later discuss Episode IX of the rebooted franchise, which will also be directed by Colin Trevorrow.
It’s not all bad news. Clearly, he isn’t afraid to mix things up.
To warm up for his journey into deep space, he has made a family drama that takes in terminal illness, murder, video game addiction, ukulele music, cutesy comedy and child rape.
It seems Trevorrow really is from a galaxy, far, far away. Just what particular planet he’s on is something you’ll be mulling over during this film’s demented, distasteful and unbelievably dreadful second half. That’s not to say the opening 50 minutes are any good. They’re horrible too, but in a much more familiar way. At first, we seem to be watching one of those sickly dramas about a child genius. Little Henry (Jaeden Lieberher) is a stock market whizz, an inventor, medical expert, artist and amateur lawyer. In a subtle early scene, his waitress mum Susan (Naomi “I need a new agent” Watts), left, is perched on the sofa
playing her favourite first-person shooter video game – a skill that just might come in handy later. Henry tells her to put down the controller, which, in case we haven’t got it already, proves that this isn’t the typical mother/son relationship.
The lad has a more retro hobby. In his unfeasibly elaborate treehouse, he has built one of those mousetrapstyle machines that use a system of levers, dominoes and pool balls to dispense sugary treats.
“You have to make sure you have a failsafe,” he tells his adoring little brother Peter (Jacob Tremblay). Again, take note of this detail. Perhaps, I had Star Wars on the brain, but at this point I was waiting for a fantastical twist which would explain the kid’s super-powers and perhaps reveal the identity of his absent father (an alien or perhaps even a Jedi). I hadn’t expected to see something horrible playing out in a neighbouring bedroom. After spying something unholy through his binoculars (mercifully, Trevorrow cuts away at the last moment), he is convinced his classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler), inset left, is being abused by her stepdad Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris).
Amazingly, this isn’t the movie’s most jarring scene.
A mid-point twist takes us on a tear-jerking dash to hospital, plonks Watts in a forest with a sniper rifle and sees Sarah Silverman’s alcoholic waitress, right, weirdly kiss 11-year-old Henry on the lips.
In my review of Star Wars Episode VII I said it was time for the franchise to start taking some risks.
Be careful what you wish for.