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FAY GRIM Send This Review to a Friend
Iconoclastic writer-director Hal Hartley has made satirical mincemeat of the spy film genre with this outrageous follow-up to his 1998 “Henry Fool.” In the effort to spoof, Hartley may have gone too far in the sense that the exploits become so convoluted that audiences may have trouble knowing what’s going on. That probably is the point, but still, it can cause frustration.
But Hartley has the perfect heroine for getting caught in the midst of all the machinations. Park Posey plays single mom Fay Grim, who lives in Queens and whose son Ned—his father is Henry—is now 14. Henry has been missing for seven years, having been helped to escape by Fay’s brother Simon, who is doing a prison stretch for the deed in the aftermath of Henry having been involved in an accidental killing. Fay is anxious to free Simon.
When CIA agent Fulbright, played with menace and mystery by Jeff Goldblum turns up and insists that Fay go to Paris to retrieve Henry’s supposed notebooks that may contain much valuable coded information, since Henry is now being described as having been a secret undercover operative. Fay seizes the opportunity to demand as a quid pro quo Simon’s release.
As Fay reluctantly plunges into this bewildering assignment, Posey brings to bear a combination of innocence and smarts to the role. She soon is in a world of secret meetings, intrigue, danger, violence and double-dealing, all in an atmosphere in which she does not know whom to trust. Hartley provides plenty of action and a few surprises.
“Fay Grim” is one of those films bound to divide viewers, some of whom will enjoy its satirical sophistication, others who may impatiently wonder what it’s all about. A Magnolia Pictures release.
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