The Rule of Jenny Pen

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

[mr_rating_result]

Jenny Pen is a scary plastic puppet with no eyes. But unlike Chucky or M3gan – or even Robert the Doll – she’s not the real antagonist. That role falls to the old guy in the nursing home who carries her around at night, terrorizing the other residents. Dave Crealy is elder abuse personified. He shuffles around the nursing home after hours, bullying the other inhabitants. You’ll abhor his cruelty.

The movie – “The Rule of Jenny Pen” – takes its name from Crealy’s puppet surrogate, Jenny Pen.

The plot of this New Zealand horror film is a contest of wills – the duel, you might say – between the malevolent Dave Crealy (John Lithgow) and a new patient, Judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush).

A stroke puts the acerbic old magistrate in this assisted living home, but his mind remains razor-sharp. And he has no intention of putting up with Crealy’s nighttime bullying. Although partially paralyzed, the judge fights back – both verbally and eventually physically.

As movie aficionado George Schmidt puts it: “Veteran character actors Rush and Lithgow as the sharp-witted magistrate and the creepily venal force of will respectively have field days matching their wits and combative actions against one another with aplomb.”

Lithgow usually plays the genial everyman, a likeable mensch who reminds us of someone we know – whether he’s playing George in “Harry and the Hendersons’ or Sam in “Terms of Endearment” or Arthur in “Dexter” or even the goofy Dr. Dick Solomon in “3rd Rock from the Sun.” He’s been nominated for two Oscars, as well as winning six Primetime Emmys, two Golden Globes, and two Tonys.

Known for playing eccentric roles, Australian-born Geoffrey Rush won a Best Actor Academy Award for his role in “Shine,” and has been nominated for three other Oscars. He has also won a Primetime Emmy and a Tony, making him the only Australian to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. In addition, he has three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globes.

If you’re not a fan of horror films, think of this as a psychological thriller. Watching two masters like Lithgow and Rush go at each other provides plenty of entertainment for fans.

Writer-director James Ashcroft and co-writer Eli Kent have adapted Owen Marshall’s oddball short story into “an equally oddball feature film.”

Why did John Lithgow agree to take on the role of a twisted villain?

“Well, James Ashcroft made me want to play it!” gushes Lithgow. “I read the script, and it frankly terrified me! I honestly didn’t know whether I was capable of doing this or why – it just seemed appalling to me. I spoke to James, and he talked about his serious intent. He’s a man of great intelligence, great compassion, and he’s got a real commitment to this subject – which is the subject of bullying and cruelty, particularly in the world of a senior care facility.

“And he knows that world very well. His wife actually runs about four very fine institutions in this area, in New Zealand, and he’s very committed to a compassionate and dignified view of that world – but he sees it as an extraordinary background for an extraordinary story with two extraordinary characters.”

Geoffrey Rush liked the challenge of his role. “The challenge for me was the restriction of being constantly in a wheelchair,” the actor explained. “I was confronted by how you have to spend the whole film in your chair, and to make sitting down interesting, because the brain is the only element that will be part of your character, and one knows it’s neurologically decaying.

“And John and I had a great time with such a cast that made up the entire microcosm of the aged care facility.”

The film is being compared to “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” – two old-timers going at each other tooth and nail.

No spoilers here. But as the movie’s tagline says, “We all get what’s coming in the end.”

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com