It's a little odd to see a film like 'Temple of Doom' one day, and then seeing Regarding Henry quite soon after. Harrison Ford is not usually an actor thought of for his range, but more for his star presence in films, of the swaggering, sarcastic, and all-around bad-ass of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the Fugitive, and Air Force One, someone who can even in his later years open a movie in theaters fairly well. When he ventures out to really give a full performance and expand his talents, it can be hit or miss. Regarding Henry displays his skills of going past his usual star persona, while showing that there isn't much to reach for in some of these riskier roles. Because the film, directed by Mike Nichols and written by JJ Abrams, is lackluster in the ways that matter, of giving as good as it could promise on its premise, and with at least a few contrivances.
Henry, a successful lawyer, gets changed completely when two bullets wipe out his motor reflexes and the majority of his memory. Coming back from scratch to his wife (Annette Benning), daughter, and friends and colleagues, proves to be a slow but revealing task as Henry becomes a more enjoyable and open kind of person, in his way. It's not without some interest in these early scenes, like the first half an hour of the film, where the bulk of this transformation takes place. His rehabilitation early on hints at what will come- the innocence of Henry, childlike at first, and then with more on the mind as the past comes back to him, for better and worse. Ford accomplishes this performance with subtlety he's not known for, but at the same time he also has to play to a certain type, which then starts to limit him. It's hard not to watch him on screen, as good as he can be in what he does, but in subverting himself with this script it grows wearier as the story goes into more predictable territory.
Another problem, and considering this is Mike (The Graduate, Carnal Knowledge) Nichols, there isn't enough dramatic conflict to really get involved with the characters, and some performances seem less dimensional than should be (Henry's rehab guy, the daughter with her same dour face). The borderline of this being a grown-up story of an after school special gets on the line, and then crosses to and fro, that it becomes frustrating. It's ironic though to say I would recommend watching the film just once, as it does have enough to it to watch once, for Ford and Benning's work. That it's a disappointment though of what could've been is undeniable for me. Still, if you want to see Ford doing something non-kicking ass and taking names, start here.
