Customer Reviews

Harry's War

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Harry's War gets very little attention. This is unfortunate because it is entertaining and informative.

This film brings many real facts about the IRS to light. They do have their own special courts and are prone to abusing their authority. The Congressional hearings during the mid 90's showed that this film was not far off in depicting IRS abuse.

While the actual declaration of war and standoff in this movie are fictional, there are similarities between this and the Waco and Ruby Ridge standoffs. Of course, those standoffs were over different issues and involved people who attracted governmental attention for their extremist views.

Harry is different. He is a regular guy who gets driven to taking extreme actions because of the heavy-handed tactics of the IRS. This war of Harry's is a bit over the top, but that's what makes a film more fun than documentaries. Harry's speech at the end reaffirms his levelheaded nature to the world, and the IRS ends up looking bad before all.

As a piece of cinematography, this film is average. The acting, sets, editing, and soundtrack are all OK. One thing that makes this film special is that it dares to disparage one of the most powerful agencies in the US government. How many places in the world are there where you can get away with that? Also, this film ridicules notions of benevolent philosopher kings running government. Films like Dave and The American President focus on personalities- so long as nice caring people have power, all will be well. Harry's War avoids this kind of `Camelot' mythologization of government. One way to sum up Harry's war would be "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely".

HARRY'S WAR (1986)
directed by Kieth Merrill
approx. 1 hour 35 minutes

HARRY'S WAR is an obscure comedy dealing with a very unfunny subject - taxes! It stars Edward Hermann, who would be best known to younger viewers as Loreli's father on the TV show 'Gilmore Girls'. I would consider it a classic.

Harry Johnson is a mailman and father who is going through the process of a divorce with his wife. One day, he receives some correspondence from an old friend named Beverly asking him to come visit. We discover that she was a woman who took care of Harry when he was much younger and he fondly refers to her as his "aunt". He is happy to see her again but learns that she hasn't been doing so well. She operates a "mission" where she feeds soup to people who need it. She has no real income and in fact gives away more than she receives, yet the IRS has been threatening her regarding complications in the tax code. Beverly is a kind woman who sometimes interjects her strange understanding of the Cold War into everyday conversation. For this reason, the government believes that her Mission is in fact a "political organization", and hence exempt from tax-free status. Harry is concerned for his old friend, but optimistically believes that it is all a misunderstanding that will get sorted out once the two sides hear each other clearly.

Harry decides to stay and help his friend run her business and things seem to be getting better until he goes to the hardware store and discovers that his checks have been bouncing. It turns out that his bank account has been seized by the IRS. When Harry tries to consult the Internal Revenue Service, he is given the "run around" and eventually thrown into tax court. The stress from all this literally kills his elderly friend Beverly. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back and Harry comes to realize that the IRS is at odds with his understanding of the U.S. constitution. Things get ugly when the IRS seizes his property, prompting him to declare war against the tax goons. The situation escalates into a standoff situation with Harry making impassioned speeches about his predicament.

Reading the above, it may not sound like it would be possible to make a comedy with this sort of storyline. And while the humor is a little dated, I think that the real purpose of this movie is to educate. When I first saw this movie I don't think that I noticed how much information was written into the dialogue. Having recently rewatched it, I would definitely recommend it to a friend who hasn't really thought about the particulars of the IRS. If a criticism of the movie can be made, it is that the bad guys in the movie are totally one dimensional. I guess you could counter this by saying that there are real-life horror stories dealing with the IRS that make the agents here look like saints! Another striking thing about watching this in 2008 is that there are very very few movies that have been made since HARRY'S WAR that take such a stand and deliver such a message in such a simple way. I love documentaries, and yes I've seen and reviewed Aaron Russo's movie, but I feel like the general public is only predisposed to watch documentaries that they believe they will agree with. I would love to see a dramatic movie, whether it is a comedy or action movie or whatever, that deals with these issues. We need more Harry's Wars!

Harry, a mild-mannered postman (played by Edward Hermann), takes over a combination war-surplus store and soup kitchen from his "Aunt Beverly" in St. George Utah. Beverly (played by the late Geraldine Page) has been fighting the IRS for years, and "just can't take it any more" -- she signs the place over to Harry, thinking that will end her troubles. She had been taking tax deductions over the years for her expenses in providing for the needy, but the IRS claimed she was a political organization and disallowed them. After sending an agent to pose as a "homeless person" to gather evidence against her (He tape-recorded her offering a prayer before she served dinner), the IRS decides to stop fooling around and make an example of first her, then Harry when he takes over.

After having his bank account siezed, the naive Harry tries to play by the rules at first. He makes appointments to "talk to" the IRS, but in several scenes reminiscent of Franz Kafka's "The Trial", nobody at the IRS can tell him anything about his case. He files appeals and is still turned down. Eventually Harry takes his case to tax court and loses there as well. Beverly points out to Harry that ALL of the members of the court work for the IRS, including the judge, and that in THIS court, he is guilty until proven innocent. Naturally he is found guilty and ordered to pay some outrageous sum in back taxes. At this point, Beverly collapses and dies right in front of the court, and Harry now starts to get angry.

After the funeral, where the obnoxious IRS department head (played by David Ogden Stiers) has the nerve to show up and demand "his" money, Harry decides to take action. He heads back to his war-surplus store, dusts off a WWII tank, attaches a big American Flag to the radio antenna, fires it up and heads into town where David Ogden Stiers is giving a live "public service interview" at the local TV station. "Taxes are the price we pay for civilization...It is a citizens duty to pay them, and they WILL be paid!

In a scene that makes you want to stand up and cheer, Harry arrives at the TV station in his tank and breaks thru the wall onto the sound stage while the cameras are rolling. Wearing a WW II military uniform, scarf, and helmet, he jumps down onto the stage, and proceeds to declare war on the IRS! "I declare war on the IRS! I challenge their right to asses us, to tax us, and to seize our assets without due process of law. The camera cuts to the home of his ex-wife (played by Karen Grassle) and his little girl says, "Mommie! Daddy is on TV! The wife at that point realizes she has misjudged him all those years she had been telling him he had no initiative. He receives a standing ovation from the TV crew. His wife and children drive out to his redoubt to be with him.

The end of the 1981 movie is eerily prophetic. Harry's house/surplus store is surrounded by Army tanks, who have been called in by the IRS. As they are using bullhorns to get him to come out, Harry releases his family (who the IRS claim are hostages), then stands on the porch gives a REALLY GOOD speech to the troops. "Who told them they could tax us? Who told them they could sieze our assets without due process of law? Adolph Hitler would be proud of the IRS!" The troops give him a standing ovation as well, but the IRS department head pulls his gun and starts firing at Harry. He manages to set the house on fire before he is subdued. The house burns to the ground with Harry inside.

I have wanted to own this for years. This little known movie depicts the real spirit of the IRS. Though Harry's reactions are a bit far-fetched the actions of the IRS is all too real. They are the ONLY government agency that does not need to follow due process rules of search and seizure. IRS agents DO carry weapons and sometimes use them to "enforce" the tax code. This movie besides making a statement, is entertaining and makes you feel good in a Disney like tradition. I'm placing my order now before it becomes unavailable again!

I was excited when the movie was finally re-released. I had to watch it twice to figure out what was wrong. Several chunks were hacked out leaving logical gaps in the action. It's only 98 minutes, why the editing? There was nothing objectionable with the original ----- Why?

It's been years since I first saw this movie. You'll find this is a great movie, suitable for viewing by the whole family.

Set in an earlier time (1986), when mailmen still walked the streets delivering mail to neighbors they knew, Harry's War tells the tale of mild mannered postman Harry Johnson (Edward Hermann) who take his two children on vacation to visit aging aunt Beverly (Geraldine Paige) in the town where he grew up.

Aunt Beverly is a grandmotherly type who is generous to a fault, but is refusing to buckle under what she considers onerous tax bills and harassment from the IRS. She tells Harry she wants him to take everything she owns because, if he doesn't take it all, the IRS will. Harry agrees to help Aunt Beverly and packs up his home belongings and moves to Aunt Beverly's mission - an old home on a military parts junk yard.

Background IRS meetings and conversations clearly describe an adversarial relationship is brewing, supported by bureaucrats looking for advancement in the IRS, confusing IRS rules and regulations, etc. Harry's meetings with the IRS are increasingly frustrating, an IRS spy is found having dinner with the mission, and Harry's bank account is seized. Then to IRS tax court, blatant IRS injustice, and Aunt Beverly's collapse in court. And so the tale begins.

I don't want to give away the whole plot, but you will find it's an hilarious romp through Harry's attempt to regain his property by declaring war on the IRS... on live television. Well worth the viewing. Rumor has it that the IRS banned this movie years ago, so I'm personally glad to see it available again on DVD.

The vision of Harry driving through town in an army half-track still burns clearly in my mind. Great movie!

Theme: Engaging film about patriotic Amer-
I-can mail man, who's aunt is being perse-
cuted by gun toting (!) IRS agents and
rents a tank and crashes TV studio wall
to get on tube and tell the story of how
IRS tax "collections" [i.e. money stealers!]
work! Watch with conspiracy researcher fri-
ends some Saturday evening with Gordan Kahl
film, 'Death and Taxes', for a real eye-opener!
Ed Herrmann found it every hard to get work
in Hollyweird after this...I wonder why?!

I saw this movie many years ago and recently bought it on DVD. The movie is still as entertaining as ever but the movie was not remastered at all before being transfered to DVD.
There is a lot of 'noise' in the picture but even with that it is still a movie worth seeing.
When Hollywood remakes so many old movies why can't they pick something worthy of it such as this classic.
You may want to wait till after April 15th to see this though for obvious reasons.

Government is force, not reason and is no laughing matter when it gets out of control. "Harry's War" is an off-beat comedy that throws numerous, accurate, stinging blows at one of the US's "Strong Arm Agencies", the IRS. This is a thoroughly entertaining (and quite educational)movie even though the story line is a bit far fetched. Geraldine Paige does a wonderful job as Harry's wacky friend who crosses the IRS. After watching it a couple times I'm ready to back HARRY FOR PRESIDENT!

This comedy was a reflection of how the public felt they were being treated by the IRS. Some sensitive IRS policies were depicted and the movie was banned from view after a very short release time. Well worth watching. I've been looking for years to find this one again.