Handsome Harry (2009)

An ex-Navy man carrying out the last wish of a dying shipmate renews contact with old friends to break the code of silence around a mysterious, long-buried crime.

Director:

Bette Gordon

Writer:

Nicholas T. Proferes

Stars:

Jamey Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, Mariann Mayberry

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamey Sheridan	...	Harry Sweeney
Steve Buscemi	...	Thomas Kelley
Mariann Mayberry	...	Judy Rheems
Aidan Quinn	...	Prof. Porter
John Savage	...	Peter Rheems
Campbell Scott	...	David Kagan
Titus Welliver	...	Gebhardt
Karen Young	...	Muriel
Jayne Atkinson	...	Kelly's Wife
Bill Sage	...	Pauley
Emily Donahoe	...	Kelly's Daughter
Asher Grodman	...	Bobby Sweeney
Andrew Dolan	...	Sam
Rutanya Alda	...	Mrs. Schroeder
Kevin Reed	...	Young Kagan

Storyline

They call him "Handsome" Harry Sweeney. At 52, the Vietnam veteran has kept his rugged good looks. Everyone likes Harry, an electrician by trade who loves to sing but for some reason he never lets anyone get too close. He's been divorced for a long time, has a son whom he rarely sees, and, although he's engaged in a long-term flirtation with the waitress at the diner, seems destined to remain alone. One day, Harry gets a call from a former Navy buddy, Tom Kelly, whom he hasn't seen in some thirty years. On his deathbed and terrified of going to Hell, Kelly convinces Harry to seek forgiveness on his behalf from a comrade they betrayed long ago, David Kagan. At first, Harry wants nothing to do with Kelly, Kagan or the remnants of his murky past. But guilt and memories have a mysterious grasp on Harry, and he finally relents, driving down the East Coast to call on his old comrades. As he confronts the three other men involved in a long-ago crime, he observes how each man has dealt with ...

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Plot Keywords:

guilt | forgiveness | military | vietnam veteran | deathbed | 

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Taglines:

Can we ever change the past?

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sármos Harry

Filming Locations:

Cornwall, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$12,562 (USA) (16 April 2010)

Gross:

$22,878 (USA) (23 April 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Worldview Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

William Porter, a university professor of philosophy, mispronounces the name of Anaxagoras, a major early Greek philosopher and astronomer.

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Crazy Credits

Thanks to "Lewis Cole May 25, 1946 - October 10, 2008." Dr. Cole was professor and chair at Columbia University School of the Arts Film Program. He died of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called, "Lou Gehrig's disease") at age 62. He was highly influential in film and made a profound impact on his students. He was survived by his wife, Valerie, children, and grandchildren.

User Reviews

Wow - just wow

I watched this moving while knowing NOTHING about it - and I am VERY glad I did.

There are so many movies out there that I always spend lots of time looking through IMDb to decide whether a movie is worth my time or not. First I check the rating, and then if it is over 5.5 I read the summary and maybe some reviews and sometimes the Message board comments.

I'm SO GLAD I didn't know anything about this movie when I watched it. I won't spoil the movie for you by pointing out the main conflict the movie takes a long time to get around to telling us all about.

But that is what I liked about this movie. It tells the story about a crime that occurred long ago - and we just start to get hints about what really happened - slowly - as the story plays out - and it is rather fascinating to watch the truth come to dawn on the main character.

The story is fairly obviously about Harry who is asked by his friend Thomas to do a favour for him on his deathbed and apologize to their long ago friend for something Thomas did that he thought he was going to go to hell for.

Harry was drunk the night this fight happened, and he can't remember much of what happened - but what I think is really cool is that by the end of the movie I'm starting to wonder if his mind made him intentionally forget what happened. Sometimes what we've done is so traumatic we choose to forget what we did.

Very painful memories from a very long time ago come back to Harry - and parts of this movie really made me cry.

This movie deserves 8 or 9 stars - and it is SO, SO much better to see something like this than some shallow characters in a car chase and fights and shootouts, blah blah blah.

I loved this movie. It sneaks up on you. It's message is obviously to be honest with yourself and don't let your life pass you by without telling those you love how you feel.

Don't miss this movie - and trust me - and take my word for it - please watch this movie before you read any other reviews.

It's better to see this movie before you know what it is about.

I did - and I'm glad I did.