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Fay Grim

Love conquers all, except when it doesn't

By PETER KEOUGH | May 17, 2007

3.0 Stars

FAY GRIM: Parker Posey as a resolute, resourceful heroine!

This effort by the hoary dean of American Independent Film, Hal Hartley, is the freshest and most accomplished thing he’s done since the film it’s a “sequel” to, 1997’s Henry Fool. That one had the title mystery man — a slob, drunkard, drifter, janitor, and Tom Waits–like sage — fleeing to Sweden to escape a manslaughter rap, leaving behind wife Fay (Posey), son Ned, and Fay’s brother Simon Grim (James Urbaniak), whom Henry had inspired to write bestselling poetry and win the Nobel Prize. Topping such whimsy (or perhaps “grimsy”) in a sequel is a tall order, but Hartley obliges by making Henry a spy involved in every covert screw-up from Chile to Afghanistan. A CIA agent (Jeff Goldblum) is on his trail — it appears Henry’s awful novel Confessions is in fact a coded secret document. So is Fay, who matures from neurotic whiner to resolute, resourceful heroine as she hops from Queens to Paris to Istanbul in her quest. A rebus of red herrings, insoluble ciphers, and facetious symbols, it doesn’t quite add up (for me). But the romantic Hartley’s message rings clear: love conquers all, except when it doesn’t.

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