Henry Poole is Here

Henry Poole is Here stars Luke Wilson, brother of Owen Wilson, as a terminally ill man who is trying to resolve his life by moving back into the neighborhood where he grew up. His Catholic new neighbor notices that the new paint job to his house has left a stain that she thinks is the face of God. He is not a believer, and her persistence with venerating his exterior wall causes a lot of the tension in the movie.

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The mini bio at imdb quotes Luke as saying,

[On his quirks]: I have this weird thing where I feel exhilarated when I cast things off in my life. Let things go. Even things that are important to me. Sometimes I know I’m making the wrong decision, but I do it anyway. Like, I just lost this watch that really meant a lot to me. I bought it after Bottle Rocket (1996). The first nice thing I ever bought for myself and I lost it. Yet I have this feeling of being glad it’s gone. I don’t know why.

At the end of the movie, when it seems his character is getting something he wants, I was disappointed that I didn’t sense that it was really what he wanted. I think he was supposed to be happy with it, but after reading the above and another quote about how Luke himself handles relationships, I think he really struggles with this. I believe Chris McCandless would relate.

Perhaps it comes from feeling deprived of something necessary, then dreaming about something that should replace it, attaining the new thing and then feeling empty. After deciding that no earthly thing can fill the void or ease the longing, a period of anti-materialism and detatchment can ensue. Like Luke said at the end of the bio page, I don’t think this is depression. Maybe it’s seeing that earthly things don’t satisfy our deepest longings, and gaining a sense that giving things up is the way towards attaining something higher, as Plato might say.