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Regarding Henry suffers from being generally predictable. There are a few fine, poignant moments, but it is primarily the performances that make it all worth seeing. So how does Ford do? He is at the center of the story and in just about every scene, so the film ultimately the film's effectiveness rests solely on his shoulders. He allows himself to be far more vulnerable here than in any performance before or since and is better than I expected. He is not able to muster a true transformative performance that a Meryl Streep can toss off effortlessly, but he was convincing enough for me. And Annette Benning, perhaps foreshadowing her Oscar-nominated work in American Beauty, perfectly captures her character's “everything's going to be alright” cheerfulness. Unfortunately, she isn't given much of an arc, so ultimately her character suffers from a blandness and doesn't do her justice. And in a less showy role, Stanley Swerdlow is unforgettable as the physical therapist, so it is unfortunate that this character actor hasn't gotten more recognition as of late.

Regarding Henry just isn't as moving and effective as it could have and should have been given the talent involved, although there is probably still enough here to enjoy. Perhaps if Nichols had invested the film with a little more flair it might have amounted to something a little more memorable. At least with his next film, 1994's Wolf, he loosened back up and returned to the a directing style that was needed here.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Paramount presents the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is anamorphically encoded. Alas, it has one very noticeable attribute that really hampers its quality. First, the positives. Like most Paramount transfers, the print is very clean with little in the way of blemishes, dirt or other anomalies. There are a few here or there, but they are minor. Also present is a bit of grain but nothing excessive. Colors are also nicely saturated and appear to be accurate, and blacks are solid. However, there is a slight but consistent haze that permeates the entire film, and it is tough to gauge whether it is a defect of the print itself or something in the telecine. The haze is more unforgivable when scenes are very still. Notice at the 49:00 mark when Ford is in his closet. Look at his blue tweed shirt; the subsequent close up should reveal more fibers of his sleeves. Instead, the strange haze distills textures and the saturated color look painted on and digital, though the colors appear to exhibit an accurate hue. Such fuzziness was distracting throughout most of the film. Only in brightly-lit sequences does the haziness subside a bit. There also seems to be a bit of edge enhancement present and compression isn't that smooth. Sure, there are worse transfers out there, but this one should have been better.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital. Originally presented in Dolby 2.0 surround [per the end credits], not a lot is going on here. I had hoped for a bit more ambiance since it takes place in New York City, but discrete surrounds and the .1 LFE are quite limited. The rears mostly come alive with some bleed of Hans Zimmer's sleepy score. Otherwise, stereo separation across the front is nothing special and frequency response is perfectly fine. A decent remix.

Also included is are English Dolby 2.0 surround and French 2.0 stereo options, along with English subtitles and Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Not a supplement in sight. Fifteen chapter stops are encoded.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts