THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
Starring: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Nathaniel Lees, and George Henare
Director: James Ashcroft
NICK
During festival season last year, I'd heard really positive things about The Rule of Jenny Pen, especially regarding the performances of Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow, so I was eager to check it out. The word on the performances was justified as Lithgow, in particular, gives an unhinged and menacing performance. The rest of the film, however, is rather messy. While the performances caught me at first, it soon became glaring how hollow the story they're in is, which made the runtime feel far longer than it actually is. There’s certainly moments that stick out, but not the film as a whole.
PAIGE
While it's easy to obsess over John Lithgow's masterfully sinister character that terrorizes his fellow residents, director James Ashcroft offers a societal critique on nursing homes that is unexpectedly nuanced and impactful. Not only does Lithgow’s character in The Rule of Jenny Pen evoke a great deal of fear and anxiety, but so does the ease with which the care staff overlook the issues going on throughout the film. There may be a lot of unanswered questions and some pacing issues towards the end, but one thing is for sure: this movie will have you terrified of ever getting admitted into a nursing home.
QUENTIN
Despite terrific performances from screen legends Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow, The Rule of Jenny Pen isn't a movie worth going out of your way to find. Themes of elder abuse and the inevitability of getting old are notionally explored, but not with enough weight to make them meaningful. On top of that, the pacing is extremely repetitive and sluggish, resulting in a movie that feels much longer than it actually is, which is especially exacerbated by the thin and messy story. Still, Lithgow clearly relished the opportunity to act completely deranged because he goes for broke, so it’s not a total loss.
