Talk about an example of a movie being NOTHING like the trailer. Granted, I was expecting some dark themes, but nothing prepared me for this. The film has a great cast and the performances are wonderful, but I was expecting something entirely different. This is in no way a movie to watch with younger kids. Child abuse, murder plots, brain tumors. They threw everything in this but the kitchen sink. The movie starts off quite delightful and then makes a sharp 180 turn down a path that I didn't see coming, and there is literally no way of explaining it without spoiling the whole concept of the movie. The film itself is well made, and the dialogue is great, but they sold it all wrong. It's basically a thriller dressed as a kids movie, and I don't know if that was the best idea.

Poem at the end is beautiful and fills one with hope when all hope is lost with a loved one...."One by one the petals fell to the ground, then the leaves, and then the stock, until it seemed the flower was gone. But it wasn't. Because the flower melted into the soil and made it rich so that the whole garden could grow."

Another movie were we have a predator abusing a vulnerable victim who, by no fault of their own, has no ability to defend themselves. Then normal every day people, instead of minding their own business, risk losing everything to stop the crime and abuse.

In this day and age, life offers us constant chances to stand up for the vulnerable, mind our own business, or assist the predators. So the more movies like this that help us prepare for the choice, the better. ,Just because you need a job doesn't absolve you from accountablity when you allow or assist with abuse.

My daughter unnecessarily died in a "prestigious" California hospital, with me running around begging for help, but a thousand hospital workers just stood around with blank faces knowing my daughter was being battered with drugs behind my back and against her will, destroying her health. all the social workers were blocking me from gettig copies of the medical records by pretending there was "another" form error, keeping me from figuring out what was going on - despite my daughter signing the release so i could help her. HEY HOSPITAL WORKERS! THIS ISN'T OK TO DO JUST BECAUSE YOU NEED A JOB - HELLO - THAT'S A HUMAN BEING IN THAT BED! You're all lucky your fabuously paying jobs don't ask you to do this to pitbuls, because you'd be thrown in jail.

Also, We are about to lose some of the financial protections that were put in place after the financial colapse. It will take normal every day people to be the front line executing the business plans to defaud the 99% once again. So get ready to say NO to helping with this.

Hopfully, movies like this can inspire more of the 99% to keep fighting to rebuild the moral compass of this country. To maintain a solid moral compass, it does require that we are willing to risk losing something. We have to know what line in the sand we won't cross for money is before it's presented.

Dont miss the song at the end sung by Stevie Nicks - "your hand. i will never let it go" : )

The plot of this movie is intricate but accessible, the writing and the acting are superb, especially the performance by Naomi Watts (She never disappoints) So you may be wondering why I didn't give it five stars?

So here's a rule I wish the Motion Picture Academy would enact, or whomever it is that puts ratings on movies.

Spoiler Alert: Don't read any further if you don't want to hear an important but revealing plot point!

I abhor any story in which a child suffers and dies. I think many people feel this way, or I might be a headcase just too damned sensitive. There should be some rating on the movie to indicate that "SOME CHILDREN MAY DIE IN THIS MOVIE' because brilliant Henry gets brain cancer and dies before his 12th birthday, which put me in a very sad, sad mood that I'm still trying to shake.

More feminist propaganda to condition people to think all men are evil and that being a single mom (victim of bad man leaving her) is the greatest thing on the planet. The neighbor is a single dad police commissioner (bad white man in power) with a step daughter (female victim) who is portrayed as a community leader who is secretly molesting this girl. Next there is a conspiracy where his white brother is head of his local child protective services and is covering it up (another bad white man in power). Even the genius boy man is corrupting his female victim mom from the grave via his diary to kill the bad white man in power. At the very end she doesn't pull the trigger (because women are not violent and are better than men and do not murder=women are good). Then finally the women school principle who wouldn't report all the evidence of the girl being abused bc she is scared of the man's power role, eventually come to save the day (women are good) and call in the police and the bad man takes his life because he doesn't want to go to jail (men are cowards). Boo don't support this distopia view, don't pay to see this movie. This movie divides us, we need positive movies that bring us together.

The Book of Henry is an awesome movie! Henry (Jaeden Lieberher) is an 11 year old boy who is pretty much the man of the house. He makes sure the bills are payed and takes care of his brother while his mom plays videogames. Henry always cares about other people first and himself last. One day Henry notices that his next door neighbor Christina (Maddie Ziegler) isn't quite herself and starts to put together that Christina's dad, Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris) is a horrible father, but of course being a kid, nobody believes Henry and won't do anything either, so, Henry decides to take matters into his own hands. This is where the movie gets really good, but I don't want to say anymore and ruin it. I would of gave this movie 4 stars because of how his mom acts in this movie, but I still had to give it 5 stars because this movie kept me drawn in and hooked on the edge of my seat the entire time. I definitely recommend this movie to anybody whether you're buying or renting. I promise this movie won't disappoint!

Just finished watching this movie. I don’t understand why it has so many bad critic reviews. The reviews claim that the movie doesn’t know which genre it wants to follow, stating that it goes in all directions from a coming of age, to a thriller, to a tear jerker movie. While it does have all three elements (while call it it a thriller is an overstatement) it does mesh very well. Most reviews that I have read seem to be taking personal pot shots at the director and don’t really explain the negativity they found with the movie itself, other than the vague statements of the genre. The movie was pretty good, worth watching. But if you are a Maddie Ziegler fan and are expecting a lot from her you might be a little disappointed as her role is basically a small albeit important role.

Forewarned: This movie is not going to be what you expect at all! Do not take this as a spoiler but It is gut wrenchingly heart breaking at a point. Only to give you a hint of the amount of tears you'll cry and nothing more I will say that part of this movie is sadder than Stepmom, My Sisters Keeper, and any other tear jerker movie out there combined. As for the acting ,in this movie, it was superb. Especially the two young boys. Naomi was brilliant as always. It was a pleasant surprise to see Maddie too and for not being an actress she did alright, a bit flat and she didn't draw you in really but quite honestly for who she was thrown in with she held her own. That being said it also was such a realistic look at how so much abuse easily slips through the cracks because people never want to pry. Worth the rental price cor sure!

10 stars... out of 5. I am beyond disappointed that I did not see Book Of Henry in theaters, this is the type of brainy and beautiful filmmaking that I love and want to support. At the time of it's release critics mostly panned The Book Of Henry, but this is a sleeper gem that critics hate and audiences love. The trailer is slightly misleading: is it a thriller? A rom-com? A spiritual journey? Or perhaps an up-lifting kids movie? The answer is all of the above. Great cast, rich visuals, and a screenplay that is both warmly familiar with a few clever surprises that treads a fine line between sentimental fantasy and dark themes, The Book Of Henry is a good story that will remind you of who you want to be.