Review of Henry & June (1990) by Karla K — 09 Jul 2007

Should have been titled "Henry and Anais," but I suppose that would have proven less wieldy for marketing purposes. To tell a story where writers are the main characters requires no small measure of thought.

The challenge always is how to make writers -- otherwise being the ones who create stories -- into compelling characters at the center of a story that is about them. I believe this could have been a good movie -- the first half-hour or so, and the ending aren't bad, but the rest of the film veers away from what works and becomes obsessed with chronicling the characters' kinky sexual proclivities.

They succeed in showing the characters to be randy, but there is very little evidence in the film of the brilliant artists their real-life counterparts were -- seems a case of there being a good starting idea, but not enough substance in the approach to fill an entire movie.

Thurman receives little screen time compared to her co-stars, but I did like her performance. Still a relative newcomer when this film was made, it was obvious that her career prospects would be high.

Because of the many weaknesses in its presentation, "Henry and June" is bound to be best remembered as a trivia answer. Even though there are some risque scenes, which earned it an NC-17 rating in 1990, many R-rated films being made today contain more adult content.