Fay Grim (2006)

45% of critics liked it
(87 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(22,380 ratings)

A single mother from Queens becomes unwittingly embroiled in international espionage in director Hal Hartley's sequel to the critically acclaimed Henry Fool. Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is determined to raise her 14-year-old son, Ned (Liam Aiken), so he won't be like his father, Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan),… More A single mother from Queens becomes unwittingly embroiled in international espionage in director Hal Hartley's sequel to the critically acclaimed Henry Fool. Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is determined to raise her 14-year-old son, Ned (Liam Aiken), so he won't be like his father, Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan), who disappeared seven years ago after accidentally murdering a vicious neighbor. As Fay's brother, Simon (James Urbaniak), serves time in a prison cell for aiding Henry in his daring escape, he gradually begins to suspect that the man who inspired him to take up writing in the first place is not the louse he appeared to be, but instead the keeper of some potentially explosive government secrets that, if made public, could prove quite dangerous. As Simon begins to explore the possibility that Henry's autobiography, "Confessions," contains coded references to a wide variety of international atrocities committed by governments around the world, the CIA contacts Fay to inform her that her husband was killed in a hotel fire in Sweden shortly after fleeing America, and that the French government is currently in possession of two notebooks containing drafts of "Confessions." Convinced that the notebooks contain information that could endanger the security of the United States, CIA agent Fulbright (Jeff Goldblum) convinces Fay to travel to Paris and retrieve Henry's property before the information falls into the wrong hands. Now trapped in the middle of a cross-continental con and thrust deep into the world of international espionage, Fay is about to find out that her ex-husband is not only still alive, but in more trouble than he could ever imagine. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By: Hal Hartley
Written By: Hal Hartley
Genres: Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Jan 19, 2007 Wide
On DVD: May 22, 2007
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Critic Reviews

Susan Walker, Toronto Star
Movie sequels rarely work as well as literary serials, but the Henry and Fay movies have the ring of a satisfying trilogy in the making.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The involved backstory and Hartley's own generic music both prove burdensome; the main attraction is the cast's amusing way of handling Hartley's mannerist dialogue and conceits.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
Despite its imperfections, Fay Grim is worth seeing for Posey's and Goldblum's performances and particularly for the witty, literate dialogue.
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News
Fay Grim is a farce in which people die and lives are ruined. Which is to say, it's peculiarly funny, but you have to be an existentialist with lightning-fast reflexes to get all the jokes.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
You won't see another film like Fay Grim this year, and we should give [Hal] Hartley credit for making it work on his own terms.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Where Henry Fool was a resonant study of friendship, art, trust and politics, Fay Grim is just a throwaway joke.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Shows Hartley shrinking even as he goes global
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Slyly, almost imperceptibly comedic, Fay Grim is indeed a film by Hal Hartley, who wrote, directed, edited and scored the film. But it's also Parker Posey's film
Heather Huntington, ReelzChannel.com
Without a good quality story, all the eccentricity is just window dressing.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Parker Posey spy satire won't interest kids.
Brian Holcomb, CinemaBlend.com
Hartley pretzels his faux spy plot into "Syriana"-like knots and ends up with a fascinating if somewhat flawed absurdist romp.
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks
The nicest surprise of the movie is how long and how well Fay Grim works as a contemporary screwball comedy, a genre from which Hartley's diffuse yet severe sense of irony would seem to disbar him.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
Posey's fans will love her performance, even if they have a little trouble following the rather contrived adventure ... which is so talky, it's tiresome.
Ted Murphy, Murphy's Movie Reviews
FAY GRIM turns out to be something of a disappointment.
Beverly Berning, culturevulture.net
Luckily, there is Hartley's immense wit to carry it through, but wit can be a dangerous gift, especially when the capacity to be clever overwhelms all else.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
It's odd, endearing and weirdly funny for an hour, and after that it's a bit of a self-conscious mess.
Stax, IGN Movies
Overall, though, Fay Grim only occasionally connects with the viewer. It is a film so caught up in its own cleverness and cheekiness that -- despite the solid work by its cast -- it forgets to make you truly care about its characters.
John Thomason, Orlando Weekly
The story is deliberately perplexing, and while the logic of the serpentine narrative surely makes sense, Hartley is more concerned with the cadences and rhythms of the spy movie itself.
Steven Snyder, Zertinet Movies
Nothing short of a comic feast.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Fay Grim" is the most inarticulate and grueling of all Hal Hartley's films, and a complete waste of time.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, Saffron Burrows, D.J. Mendel, Liam Aiken, Jasmin Tabatabai, Chuck Montgomery, James Urbaniak, John Keogh, Claudia Michelsen Director: Hal Hartley Summary: When it's discovered that her deceased ex-husband's manuscript contains… More
Cast: Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, Saffron Burrows, D.J. Mendel, Liam Aiken, Jasmin Tabatabai, Chuck Montgomery, James Urbaniak, John Keogh, Claudia Michelsen Director: Hal Hartley Summary: When it's discovered that her deceased ex-husband's manuscript contains information that could threaten national security and implicate the government in a variety of conspiracies, Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is forced to travel to Paris and retrieve the book before it falls into the wrong hands. A follow-up to the critically acclaimed Henry Fool, this puzzling thriller from Hal Hartley also stars Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows. My Thoughts: "It's an offbeat kind of film full of some odd, quirky characters. The story is OK and interesting enough to keep you watching, but it just wasn't anything special. Parker Posey, is what kept me watching this movie. She does a really great job in this film. I enjoyed Jeff Goldblum, in this as well. Thought him and Parker were quite funny in this. The acting in this film is a bit over the top, which makes the film seem even more silly. But I think it was the directors intention to have some of the scenes to come off that way. In the end, it was just an OK flick with some funny moments. If your a fan of Parker Posey, I would say have a go at this film."
William D

[size=3]Fay Grim is a unique film, but it's ultimately not that engaging. I really wanted to love it, given that writer/ director [b]Hal Hartley[/b] is such an independent. But alas, it's only mildly enjoyable.[/size]… More
[size=3]Fay Grim is a unique film, but it's ultimately not that engaging. I really wanted to love it, given that writer/ director [b]Hal Hartley[/b] is such an independent. But alas, it's only mildly enjoyable.[/size] [size=3][img]http://blogs.indiewire.com/twhalliii/fgPoster.jpg[/img][/size] [size=3]The film is a sequel to Hartley's earlier film Henry Fool, which I also saw and only moderately enjoyed. [b]Parker Posey[/b] plays Henry's wife. She has been abandoned by Henry, and she doesn't know what happened to him or where he went. [/size][size=3]She is contacted by the CIA, in the form of an agent played in deadpan comic fashion by Jeff Goldblum, and told that Henry was involved in espionage and may have been a traitor to the United States. To make a long story short, she ends up slipping off to Europe to find Henry and getting caught up in a set of interesting and funny double-crosses involving spies from about a dozen countries.[/size] [size=3]Fay knows next to nothing about politics. She barely knows where these countries are, much less what all the political intrigue is about. It is quite funny to watch her try to figure out what's going on and learn to do such things as talk in code. [/size][size=3]Imagine Lucille Ball joining the CIA: that's what it's like to watch Parker Posey play Fay Grim. But the comedy is never over the top or very screwball. Posey keeps it under control.[/size] [size=3]There's also a serious undercurrent to the film, which keeps the comedy in check. The audience is aware of the serious issues that are being talked about, even if Fay isn't. When the danger starts mounting, the film doesn't pull any punches. One of the delightful side characters is killed right before Fay's eyes, and there isn't a drop of humor in the scene. It's grim in a way that isn't the slightest bit ironic.[/size] [size=3]A slight literary element infuses the film, but not so much that you could call the film seriously literary. Fay's brother is an avant-garde poet, and there are jokes about publishing and the state of letters in America that are quite funny. But Hartley only sprinkles the film with a literary touch.[/size] [size=3]Despite a number of pleasant and intelligent elements and despite a very enjoyable performance from Parker Posey,, nothing in the film really sinks in very deeply. I forgot about the film about an hour after it was over. Nothing gets under your skin. Hartley just doesn't seem to take anything that seriously, and his comedy is rather mild. This film and this filmmaker represent a very minor footnote in cinema history.[/size]
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Fay Grim" takes place seven years after Fay Grim's(Parker Posey) husband, Henry Fool, vanished after catching a flight to Sweden under an assumed name.(It's a long story, trust me. Or rather a long movie: "Henry Fool.") CIA Agents… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Fay Grim" takes place seven years after Fay Grim's(Parker Posey) husband, Henry Fool, vanished after catching a flight to Sweden under an assumed name.(It's a long story, trust me. Or rather a long movie: "Henry Fool.") CIA Agents Fulbright(Jeff Goldblum) and Fogg(Leo Fitzpatrick) ask her if she has read any of Henry's journals which they believe could be a threat to national security. One notebook is in the possession of a publisher(Chuck Montgomery) who passes it along to Fay's brother Simon(James Urbaniak) who is in jail for helping Henry escape. Two more are in France and Fay agrees to retrieve them in exchange for Simon being released from prison, so he can home school her son, Ned(Liam Aiken), who has been expelled for a little underage fellatio...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Hal Hartley, "Fay Grim" is a convoluted mess of a movie with ill-defined characters. It's not that all of the necessary elements are not in place, just too many of them. To make matters worse, too much time and energy is given to trying to explain the MacGuffin. In the end, it is irrelevant whether the journals contain government secrets, the pornographic ravings of a madman or a great egg salad recipe. And whenever it feels like there is a coherent statement about the national security state on the horizon, the movie simply stumbles off into another brick wall.[/font]
Duncan R

Well, all's I got to say about this movie is that it's a bit of a mess. I like stories where ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary situations, but this was just convoluted as all get out. The last half-hour was pretty good, but I spend the first two-thirds of the… More
Well, all's I got to say about this movie is that it's a bit of a mess. I like stories where ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary situations, but this was just convoluted as all get out. The last half-hour was pretty good, but I spend the first two-thirds of the movie wondering what the hell was going on and why I should give a damn about Parker Posey's character. Then I found out it was a sequel to something. Kind of wish I'd have know that BEFORE I rented it!!!
Yinalí R

It was an unexpected movie. Though Parker Posey makes it worth watching because of her acting, so it's a good movie.
William G

A deadpan espionage send-up that more than overstays its welcome.
Brett W

In Fay Grim Hartley rearranges Henry Fool's characters into a more lighthearted, ironic espionage tale. Unfortunately this film seems to only work in the minds those who enjoyed and looked forward to the further exploits of the original's characters, since there is an… More
In Fay Grim Hartley rearranges Henry Fool's characters into a more lighthearted, ironic espionage tale. Unfortunately this film seems to only work in the minds those who enjoyed and looked forward to the further exploits of the original's characters, since there is an overall sloppiness to the sequel's construction. The humor is sometimes crisp enough, as is the talent involved, but mostly this just felt like an unnecessary epilogue which, in some cases, causes the original to lose meaning. The primary example being the validity given to Henry's "confessions" when the crux of the first was that his character was ultimately full of shit...and besides, if Henry's work had been even remotely related to spy/travel memoirs, why would he have gotten so visibly upset when Simon rejects its artistic worth?
Marion R

I really enjoyed this movie. it was funny and right up my alley. This is the first Hal Hartley film I have seen, but I will be checking out more of his films soon.
Donna D

Wow. Suprisingly a hit with me. Great storyline, with Parker being her best as Fay Grim. Strong story with great acting by a supporting cast. I do need to see Henry Fool to understand this sequel, but nonetheless it was a great movie, but makes me wanting more....