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Fay Grim

Play trailer Poster for Fay Grim R 2006 1h 58m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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47% Tomatometer 91 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Many years after her notorious husband, Henry Fool, fled after killing a neighbor, Fay Grim (Parker Posey) receives a visit from CIA agent Fulbright (Jeff Goldblum), who tells her that Henry is dead, but that some of his journals have been unearthed in France. She sets forth on a globe-trotting odyssey that soon leads to the discovery that he is alive, and his journals are more than they appear to be.
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Fay Grim

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Critics Consensus

Fay Grim is too concerned with its own farcical premise to present a coherent, involving story.

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Critics Reviews

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies Fay's intercontinental quest for the missing, maybe dead Henry is also a search for his now fragmented writings, whose meaning is both constantly evolving and forever evaporating. Feb 19, 2018 Full Review Hank Sartin Time Out Rated: 3/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Susan Walker Toronto Star Movie sequels rarely work as well as literary serials, but the Henry and Fay movies have the ring of a satisfying trilogy in the making. Rated: 3.5/4 May 25, 2007 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com An emotionally and intellectually centered film that will resonate with viewers long after the film has ended. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 7, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A disappointing zany character-driven comedy directed by the once promising indie cult auteur Hal Hartley. Rated: C+ Oct 16, 2014 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Shows Hartley shrinking even as he goes global Aug 27, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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white b i liked it, but i came to it after having seen Henry Fool years prior and LOVING IT. it's the 2nd movie of a trilogy. and yeah it's a major tone shift. but i liked it. (but Thomas Jay Ryan is better in the 1st and 3rd ones - based on the material of course) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A sendup of sorts of paranoid espionage thrillers plays it straight with a manic energy and more convoluted twists than you can shake a stick at. FIlmed almost exclusively in so many dutch angles it could make Battlefield Earth blush. It is worth the watch for the performances of Parker Posey and Jeff Goldblum, obviously having fun. But the lack of any real substance and no through-line strong enough through all the twists to really feel like it matters. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member "Henry Fool" was a strange indie dramedy about a weirdo writer who came into the life of a garbage man and inspired him to also become a weirdo writer. Writer/Director Hal Hartley revisits the characters created in that film 10 years later in "Fay Grim" and, to make things even stranger, turns it all into an international spy thriller. It is one of the strangest things, and I kind of loved it for that. The movie is a tad confusing and not without it's problems, but it is so unique and strange, and so unlike it's preceding film that it becomes something entirely different...it just happens to be inhabited with these quirky odd characters we've met in an entirely different kind of film before. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member starring the queen of indie cinema Parker Posey + director hal hartly= good viewing Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Fay Grim is Hal Hartley's sequel to Henry Fool from 1997 and it continues the story of Fay Grim who is struggling as a single mother after her husband Henry had to flee the country. Her brother Simon is in prison for aiding Henry in his escape and Fay's son Ned is becoming more like his father which worries her. So Fay thinks she's finally finished with that point in her life then 2 CIA agents show up wanting to read Henry's journals because they believe they may be treasonous and they need Fay to retrieve the final journals in Paris so they can piece together the mystery of what the journals point to and whether or not Henry is a threat to national security. So Hal Hartley has crafted a really fun spy comedy of sorts. Like with all Hal Hartley's films like the humor is really subdued. But I think this is one of his funniest movies because he takes this really crazy premise and just rolls with it. Jeff Goldblum is really awesome in this he plays Agent Fulbright who may know more information then he's letting on but he's also kind of oblivious about what's going on in his operation. This movie is really funny and smart. But in the last half the movie kind of starts to embrace the spy genre and it kind of starts to sink but it didn't kill my enjoyment. I still think this is a really smart deadpan comedy and it's one of Hal Hartley's best. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member There are more than a few problems with this film, but it was cool just to see where "Fay" has ended up since the original film. However, like nearly all sequels - it fails to fully live up to the original. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Many years after her notorious husband, Henry Fool, fled after killing a neighbor, Fay Grim (Parker Posey) receives a visit from CIA agent Fulbright (Jeff Goldblum), who tells her that Henry is dead, but that some of his journals have been unearthed in France. She sets forth on a globe-trotting odyssey that soon leads to the discovery that he is alive, and his journals are more than they appear to be.
Director
Hal Hartley
Producer
Hal Hartley, Michael S. Ryan, Martin Hagemann, Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente
Screenwriter
Hal Hartley
Production Co
Zero Fiction, HDNet, This Is That Productions, Possible Films
Rating
R (Some Sexuality|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
May 18, 2007
Release Date (Streaming)
May 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$61.8K
Runtime
1h 58m
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