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Hopeless Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), suffering from one of those terminal, nameless movie diseases (perhaps he’s afflicted with a “brain cloud,” à la Tom Hanks’s character in the much more entertaining 1990 folly Joe Versus the Volcano), purchases an unfurnished tract home in the middle-class neighborhood where he grew up, looking to drink himself into isolated oblivion. Hope comes knocking when next-door neighbor Esperanza (Babel’s Adriana Barraza) shows up with a housewarming plate of tamales. When she sees “the face of Christ” in a stain on Henry’s stucco wall, director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road) proceeds to expose the ills of the modern world: science, medicine (an incompetent nurse can barely draw Henry’s blood), and atheism, Henry’s most malignant malady. Miracles pile up (a girl’s sight is restored, a mute regains her voice, Henry maintains a continuous five o’clock shadow), building to an unbelievable climax that will test your faith. 100 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + West Newton + Suburbs
