I would like to give this film a higher rating, but something felt all wrong, the whole time. It started with the feeling that I was watching Kevin Costner as the leading man, Harry Sweeney. What, they couldn't afford Costner, so they asked Jamey Sheridan to give it his best shot? Even my husband thought it was Costner and we decided the beard was a ploy to obfuscate Sheridan's longer face.The other problem had to do with the number of other little stories, within a story. Too many people to care about any of them or the arc of their lives since the central incident 30 years in the past.It would have been better to cut the number of men by two, extend the time Harry spent with each man and his family. Additionally, Harry should have been, either a childless widower fruitlessly pursuing the diner waitress OR a widower fruitlessly pursuing a relationship with his estranged son.Now, to the best parts of the film. The flashback sequences depicting the burgeoning relationship between Harry and David. The two young actors caught the essence of the relationship, with quick glances, knowing looks and body language. I wished there had been more with them, before the central event. It was beautiful, sweet and poignant.AND the last scenes with Campbell Scott. He was perfect. He was mature, he was shattered, he was solid, he was fragile, he was strong. Did I mention he was perfect?Made me sad that we had spent all that time with Harry and his dirty dishwater life. I wanted to see David. How David became the person we met at the end.I've been purposely vague, hopefully not spoiling too much for those who haven't seen the film.

Handsome Harry (2009)The title is perfectly understated, and a bit misleading, whatever your first impressions. Harry is the main character, a man around 60 with memories of a brutal beating he and some fellow sailors gave a mate of theirs in the Viet Nam era. Long ago. The main thread of the movie follows him as he revisits each of the participants, including the man who was beaten.With such a solid structure you are in some ways hooked. Each encounter has its own twists. And each time we see, through flashbacks, a sharpening picture of what really happened. It's a fascinating building of a story, even with some weakness here and there in the writing and acting.And key to it all is a misguided homophobia, and what turns out to be a more complicated fear of being outed and a little self-loathing. Some of the characters Harry visits are finely tuned types, well acted. We see how everyone has changed, and how their sense of who they are, alone and to each other, has also changed.Most of all we see Harry come to terms with his own demons on this. Jamey Sheridan plays him with studied restraint, and yet gives the man enough believable nuances to keep it honest. The biggest name in the cast is the first of Harry's encounters, Steve Buscemi, but if you are a fan of his (as you should be) be prepared that his role is really limited. And John Savage appears as one of the group, too. There are some strains in the other actors' parts either because of their ability to pull off a mostly talking movie or because the writing itself stumbles. In particular you'll see Harry barge into a classroom and interrupt the teacher and sort of take over the podium for a minute, and it's so out of character and unlikely it almost punctures the whole movie.But hang in there. The final chapter or two is intense and written with poignancy. And it might surprise some viewers. A strong finish to a good, sometimes lugubrious, somewhat strained telling.

I saw this film because my husband and I are fans of Jamey Sheridan as well as some of the other actors. It was great to see John Savage, as always! We both enjoyed the film. The beginning stumbled a little for me; some of the dialog was stilted and stiff in its exposition and the opening few scenes were, overall, bland with nothing new. My other problem was with the editing of the sequences. I could not tell where Harry was, literally, in a number of the scenes. I didn't know whether he was driving far or near. But that's a small problem. The acting, as previously stated, was very good and it's a testament to the writer, director, and producer that they were able to get this impressive cast together and get this small film made in these precarious times. Once the opening scenes in Harry's adopted home town were over, the movie picked up and became interesting. Jamey Sheridan was quite wonderful in the role. It made me think of his role in "The Ice Storm" which was also wonderful. If you like small intimate dramas, then this is something you can really enjoy. It's a shame that it is not seen more, but hopefully, it will have a new life on Pay Cable.

I am a big fan of Steve Buscemi so I expected a lot out of this film, boy was I wrong, like the other reviewer I agree this felt like watching an episode of Matlock, only an episode of Matlock would probably be more entertaining. Characters were very dry and without any depth or believable emotion, like they could care less about their lines or the movie as a whole and that transfers to the viewers interest in watching it. I am not going to drone on and on as some do and I have never reviewed another title but this film I felt has a very deceiving rating and I hope this review and the other gentlemen's that also gave us an honest opinion are helpful in curving others from wasting their time on this piece of garbage. I would also like to say I am not sure what magazine that other reviewer stole that over worded tripe to explain what they saw, but if they in fact sat there and wrote with such passion for this crap they obviously need some real entertainment to use as a marker.