The Book Of Henry

''The Book of Henry'' is a 2017 American drama thriller film directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Gregg Hurwitz. The film stars Naomi Watts, Jaeden Martell (then known as Jaeden Lieberher), Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace, Maddie Ziegler, and Dean Norris. The story concerns a plan hatched by a young genius, dying of cancer, to save the girl next door from abuse.

The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 14, 2017. It was released in theaters by Focus Features on June 16, 2017, was unsuccessful at the box office, and received generally negative reviews from critics, mostly focused on the film's plot twists and tonal shifts, and Trevorrow's direction, although the cast and the film's ambition received some praise.

Plot

In a small suburban town in the Hudson Valley, eleven-year-old genius Henry Carpenter and his younger brother Peter are being raised by their single mother Susan, a waitress who is working on writing children's books. Henry has used his intellect to invest successfully in the stock market, building up a very substantial nest egg for his family. He also protects Peter from a school bully and builds Rube Goldberg machines in their tree house. Henry and Susan are both fond of their next-door neighbor and Henry's classmate, Christina Sickleman, who has recently become glum.

Henry believes he sees Christina being abused by her stepfather, Glenn, the local police commissioner. He reports the abuse to social services and the school principal, Janice Wilder, but Glenn has connections throughout the local government, and Wilder is reluctant to challenge the commissioner without "conclusive evidence". Henry is unable to get the authorities to launch a serious investigation that would protect Christina. Henry tells his mother that when someone is in trouble, those who can help must take action. He develops a detailed plan to rescue Christina that he details in a notebook. After a violent seizure, he is taken to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with a brain tumor and undergoes surgery. Anticipating his death, he tells Peter to give Susan the notebook. Days later, Henry dies.

Susan is distraught at Henry's death and has difficulty functioning, but when Peter gives her the notebook, she focuses on Henry's plan. She tries, unsuccessfully, to interest a nearby social services agency in opening an investigation. One night, from the boys' bedroom window, she sees Glenn in Christina's room and decides to carry out the plan. The notebook and an accompanying cassette tape describe Henry's step-by-step plan to kill Glenn with a sniper rifle while covering Susan's tracks so that it will be impossible to trace the murder back to her. Her alibi is to be provided by executing the murder while Christina and Peter are performing at the school talent show.

Susan slips away from the show, putting the plan into motion. As she is about to pull the trigger, she realizes that Henry's plan, though ingenious, is the construct of a child, and she must act as an adult. She immediately confronts Glenn and tells him that she is going to expose him for what he has done to Christina. He replies that everyone will believe him, not her, and tells her that he is going to call his police chief to come arrest her. At the same time, affected by Christina's dance performance at the talent show, Principal Wilder decides to follow through on the abuse accusation, contacting the authorities. Glenn returns home, calls his relative at Social Services, and learns that an investigation is being opened into his abuse of Christina. As the police arrive at his house, he kills himself. Susan legally adopts Christina as her daughter. She also finishes writing one of her children's books, as Henry had urged her to do.

Cast

* Naomi Watts as Susan Carpenter, the mother of Henry and Peter
* Jaeden Martell as Henry Carpenter, the title character and Susan's older son
* Jacob Tremblay as Peter Carpenter, Henry's brother and Susan's younger son
* Sarah Silverman as Sheila, a waitress and Susan's best friend
* Dean Norris as Glenn Sickleman, the police commissioner and Christina's abusive stepfather
* Lee Pace as David Daniels, a neurosurgeon who operates on Henry
* Maddie Ziegler as Christina Sickleman, Glenn's stepdaughter
* Tonya Pinkins as Janice Wilder, the school principal
* Bobby Moynihan as John, Susan's and Sheila's boss at the diner
* Geraldine Hughes as Mrs. Evans, Henry's and Christina's teacher
* Jackson Nicoll as Morris, a boy who bullies Peter

Production

Hurwitz wrote the first draft of the screenplay by 1998. The film was eventually optioned by Jenette Kahn, and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment joined as a producer. An executive at Kimmel Entertainment thought that Colin Trevorrow would be right to direct ''The Book of Henry''. Trevorrow and Hurwitz found each other to be congenial, but then Trevorrow was hired to direct ''Jurassic World''. Another director was considered. By early 2015, after Trevorrow finished ''Jurassic World'', he returned to ''The Book of Henry''. Kimmel Entertainment and Double Nickel Entertainment financed and co-produced the film; producers are Sidney Kimmel

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