The Rule of Jenny Pen review
Two great actors walk into a rest home…
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Rule of Jenny Pen
Directed by James Ashcroft
Written by Eli Kent and James Ashcroft
Starring John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush
The Rule of Jenny Pen Review
The draw of The Rule of Jenny Pen is watching two of our finest actors at work. It’s a simple story that does its best not to get in their way. This is a kind way of explaining that…well…not a lot happens in The Rule of Jenny Pen. But when you have actors like Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow…not a lot has to.
Judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) suffers a debilitating stroke and lands in a rest home while attempting to recover. Though he believes his stay will be a short one…his recovery hits several setbacks. Worse…he is forced to deal with a demented bully named Dave (Lithgow).
Watching Rush and Lithgow spar in The Rule of Jenny Pen is a worthy use of your time. There are layers to each actor’s performances. Rush’s Stefan is mostly confined to a wheelchair and struggles to fully articulate himself at times. Lithgow’s Dave is insane. He walks around with a hand puppet named Jenny Pen…terrorizing the community. There’s never a scene between the two men where they sit and have a fully coherent conversation. With this level of actors…you’d expect there to be a scenery chewing tête-à-tête filled with ominous undertones and spiffy dialog. The Rule of Jenny Pen never goes that route. It lets the actors fully inhabit their characters…complete with every ailment and restriction.
Stefan’s roommate is a former rugby star who has been dealing with Dave for years. He laments that it’s only gotten worse since Stefan moved in. Now he has an audience to play for. There’s a wonderful scene that establishes Dave’s character better than any late-night menacing of the two men ever could. The residents of the rest home are enjoying a nice time on the dance floor one day when Dave, puppet in tow, saunters onto the floor with them. He invades space, bumps people out of the way, steps on feet…whatever he can do to be a nuisance. Soon, the floor is empty save for Dave and Jenny Pen. Everyone knows what Dave is…but no one will speak up.
That is, of course, until Stefan arrives. He desperately tries to lodge complaints that fall on deaf ears. They make him sound crazy…and his worsening condition doesn’t help him to be understood. In truth, the scariest thing in The Rule of Jenny Pen isn’t Dave or his puppet fetish…it’s the people who work at the rest home. It seems like a nice place. It’s clean…they bring in different forms of entertainment for their residents. But man…do they not listen. And they are never anywhere to be found when bad things are going down. The empty hospital is a staple of horror movies, of course…but The Rule of Jenny Pen doubles down by having the staff be just as incompetent when they are around as negligent when they aren’t.
Such is Stefan’s new reality. His dream of returning to his regular life slowly slips away as his condition worsens. Which leaves him staring directly at the Dave problem. The Rule of Jenny Pen is a quiet horror movie. These are elderly characters trapped in a quiet hell. Don’t expect showy blood-soaked moments or fast paced action. Stefan’s chair only moves so fast. And that’s ok. Rush and Lithgow are the reason to visit this hellish home for elderly care. More specifically, their commitment to these interesting characters slowly butting heads with one another.
The Rule of Jenny Pen limps a bit towards the finish line. There’s a back and forth that feels like it’s struggling to choose an ending. It eventually lands on one…and it’s satisfying enough. Perhaps the story would have benefited from not trying it twice…but we end up where we need to in the end.
Scare Value
While there’s nothing terribly exciting about the slow burn story The Rule of Jenny Pen doles out…everything is consistently elevated by the performances of its two leads. Watching Rush and Lithgow inhabit these characters is more than most genre movies have to work with. Come for the acting. Stick around for an enjoyable little film.
3/5
The Rule of Jenny Pen Link
Buy tickets on Fandango
