Featured Audience Ratings

• ♥˩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....

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