Harry's War (1981) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
The IRS wouldn't admit they made a mistake on Harry Johnson's taxes and Harry no choice but to Fight Back!
After his aunt dies of a heart attack while fighting the IRS, Harry Johnson decides to take up the cause.
Cast
Popular reviews
Keith Merrill’s drama in which Harry Johnson (Edward Herrmann) takes up a personal fight with the IRS. His Aunt died while she done the same thing. With Geraldine Page and Karen Grassle.
The story concerns a mailman (Edward Herrmann) who battles back when the IRS pursues an unconventional elderly woman (Geraldine Page) for back taxes.
Edward Herrmann gives a good performance in his role as the title character Harry Johnson, the man who refuses to give up his fight and is determined to succeed.
Elsewhere, there are fine performances to be had from Geraldine Page and Karen Grassle in their respective roles as Beverly Payne and Kathy Johnson, with Beverly being Harry’s aunt who isn’t on screen for long.
The…
Home Alone for grown-ups.
I’m not sure why my mom was so adamant about taking me to see Harry’s War when I was only 9, but I vividly remember her excitement going into that opening weekend matinee. And the movie has always stayed with me.
I haven’t seen this since 1981, and an IRS dramedy doesn’t sound like it should appeal to kids, but I really enjoyed it back in the day, regaling my classmates with a reenactment on the playground that following Monday.
A lot of it went over my head at the time. But revisiting it over forty years later, I get why I liked it so much. The second half is a ton of fun, with the…
Geraldine Page brought me here to this weird right-wing film about evading taxes. I was surprised to see Elisha Cook Jr and enjoyed David Ogden Steirs as a lowlife
But .. Harry's War is just another story of the meek man rising up, and this time it seems a fight not worth starting.
Indie comedy named by Conservapedia as one of the Greatest Conservative Movies – going full-on libertarian will stop your divorce, apparently(!) Who knows how they convinced Geraldine Page and David Ogden Stiers to appear, but it's wretched even with their presence.
Watched this entirely for Geraldine Page reasons, but she dies in the first 20 minutes and you’re left with some libertarian, anti IRS nonsense.
Just pay your fucking taxes you dick.
Edward Herrmann rocks. In anything. The film really plays to that limited government Ronald Reagan kind of sentiment. Many will undoubtedly hate the politics. As far as the IRS goes, most people can accept (as Harry did early on) that taxes are a necessary fact of life. It's the unbridled power they sometimes wield, and use to crush the average taxpayer, that infuriates many. The person often caught in the trap is not treated as a human. They're just a SSN with a debt to pay. Harry felt like he had to fight.
Edward Herman gets into a gunfight with government over an IRS audit that kills Geraldine Paige. It’s pretty weak.
Just the kind of movie an 11 year old would like watching on HBO.
I remember seeing Harry's War when I was on vacation in St. George, Utah of all places (where Harry's War was filmed). I honestly don't remember much about the film—the political arguments were a little beyond my 12-year-old brain.
Watching it recently, I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. Oh, the cinematography, script, and acting are a bit wobbly (you can tell it was a low-budget production), but it has one thing that a lot of movies today lack: entertainment value. I was entertained throughout the entire film. Part of it was probably due to the fact that I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I've seen plenty of left-wing diatribes on film, but I don't think…
Oh, yeah. That super right-wing libertarian film with Edward Herrmann about evading taxes.
We don’t talk about it, thanks.
(The three stars are just for Ed’s acting)