Christy Romano

Henry Fool -- Simon is a garbage man with a poet s spirit, an addled mom, and an angry sad eyed sister. Parker Posey and Thomas Jay Ryan meet Henry Fool in this bizarrely dark indie comedy.

Acclaimed writer/director Hal Harley's (Amateur, Flirt), Henry Fool is a Faustian black comedy that will leave you screaming with laughter at its wild mix of vulgarity, antic humor and deeply-felt emotion. Intense, nerdy young garbageman Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) sulks through a sexless, humiliating lower-class existence. He shares a house in Queens, NY, with his clinically depressed mother Mary (Maria Porter) and sarcastic, promiscuous sister Fay (Parker Posey). Into their mundane existence comes Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), a freewheeling, depraved faux intellectual and writer who inspires the repressed Simon to come out of his shell by writing a book-length poem. He also begins an affair with Fay, the two making love at the most awkwardly inappropriate moments. At Henry's goading, Simon timidly peddles his manuscript to an unscrupulous publisher, setting in motion an unforeseen chain of events both tragic and hilarious.

In 1964, “Vinnie and the Dreamers” and their 16-year-old lead singer, Vince Pirelli, made the crowds go wild. It was a magical time. Now more than 30 years later, Vince, now 50, is tending bar in a trendy Bay Ridge Bistro and playing weddings. Vince, a widower of ten years, wants no part of his past. As a single parent he is all consumed by his children, in particular his daughter Tina who is battling leukemia. When Vince’s buddies from The Dreamers kidnap him for a blowout in Atlantic City, Vince finally gives voice to the pain and disappointment of 30 years. After a soulful reunion of “Vinnie and the Dreamers,” Vince returns home with a renewed confidence.

Acclaimed writer/director Hal Harley's (Amateur, Flirt), HENRY FOOL is a Faustian black comedy thatwill leave you screaming with laughter at its wild mix of vulgarity, antic humor and deeply-felt emotion. Intense, nerdy young garbageman Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) sulks through a sexless, humiliating lower-class existence. He shares a house in Queens, NY, with his clinically depressed mother Mary (Maria Porter) and sarcastic, promiscuous sister Fay (Parker Posey). Into their mundane existence comes Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), a freewheeling, depraved faux intellectual and writer who inspires the repressed Simon to come out of his shell by writing a book-length poem. He also begins anaffair with Fay, the two making love at the most awkwardly inappropriate moments. At Henry's goading, Simon timidly peddles his manuscript to an unscrupulous publisher, setting in motion an unforseen chain of events both tragic and hilarious.