Watch The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Roald Dahl (based on 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar' by), Wes Anderson (written for the screen by)
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer
Plot
Henry Sugar can see through objects and predict the future with the help of a book he stole.
Verdict
Not every movie needs to be feature length. This takes the right amount of time to tell a fun story, and the nature of the story is boosted by Anderson's style as it blends a book with the visual nature of a movie. It's almost too short to become bored, but it leaves you wanting more.
Watch It.
Review
Wes Anderson's style is often a bit much, but this story and the length of it work very well in conjunction with the look. This doesn't try to hide that the inspiration is a book with the actors basically reading a script and narrating their actions. Through that this captures the feeling of a book.
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| Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes play Henry Sugar, The Policeman |
Henry (Benedict Cumbertach), an affluent gambler, stumbles a cross a book that teaches him a nifty trick of seeing objects, though it does take years of dedication. Initially he decides to use his new ability to win at cards with ease, only to realize that also eliminates the allure as it's no longer a game of chance. Henry decides to use his skills for good by building hospitals and orphanages.
What Henry wanted most, devoting years to do, ended up unsatisfying. Yet that journey is also the reason he did so much good. It's a fun tale, told with a light style. The power is in the brevity. The story itself isn't long enough for viewers to grow bored, not that you could with the energy this generates.
It's very similar to The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which is composed of six skits. Each one is so short that even if you don't like it, the end is close enough.
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