Henry and Simon are such cherished US-fostered house plants, wackily adorable---even admirable--- in a way that is only plausible at home, would understandably wither away from American soil. A comedy has to be somewhat plausible to be funny; who would have believed that Henry's picaresque anti-hero would find any sort of creditable serious acceptance in Afganistan, or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world? And isn't Parker's wooden passivity in the hands of international play-masters given, then? Now THAT is plausible; but it cannot sustain viewing interest, and the narrative falls apart. As many second-rate films featuring Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway prove over and over again, great cameo performances do not add up to a great picture. Hartley tried to suggest otherwise, and he failed.
As in "Henry Fool", the performance of the ensemble here is comically stylized. But in the other film, Henry's cat-like steps and clumsy bravado, Simon's deadpan stiffness, and Fay's placid not-together posture, bring out deeper empathy in the audience beyond laughter. Here they only seem to aim at comic effect. A waste of the actors' talent.
(And for how great that talent can be, see, besides "Henry Fool", "Trust".)
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