Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022)

[QQQQ]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone (IMDB)

A boy and an aging billionaire bond over books — and their first iPhones. But when the older man passes, their mysterious connection refuses to die. Based on a short story by Stephen King. Streaming on Netflix.

[krankydoodle]

This somehow seemed both too long and undercooked. They introduced some elements and then didn't do much with them, like Craig's friends or the girl he was dating. It also seemed like they were wavering between trying to make Mr. Harrigan sinister/actively villainous vs. just ruthless/unforgiving. When Craig was investigating what happened to Mr. Harrigan's former employee, I thought we were going to find out that he'd had the guy killed or burned out of his home or something. I also thought the scene with Ms. Hart patching Craig up post-beating was weird. It looked like he was going to try to kiss her.

Anyway, all that said, it was ok. Donald Sutherland was good, and I like Jaeden Martell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

[SunnyBeBe]

I read a lot about this film before starting it. The trailer looked good.  Still, the beginning was so slow.  I couldn’t stay with it.  Maybe, I’ll give it another try,  later.  I like Southerland a lot.

[Blue Plastic]

On 10/8/2022 at 6:14 PM, krankydoodle said:

I also thought the scene with Ms. Hart patching Craig up post-beating was weird.

That definitely came off weird to me, too.

IMO it's a mostly sweet/bittersweet story with a little bit of a slightly spooky supernatural angle thrown in.

The lack of development of Craig's friends, especially the girl he was dating, was a commentary on how smartphones and social media were almost addicting to people and taking the place of actual interaction IRL. At least with his friends, he had a relationship with them before he and they all got smartphones, but he didn't really meet the girlfriend until after he already got his iPhone. So they didn't ever talk as much as just text back and forth.

ETA: It reminded me somewhat of the "Death Note" concept.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Blue Plastic