Review: 'The Rule of Jenny Pen' is a serviceable suspense thriller, and a chance to see John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush trade theatrical hamminess

Insanity runs deep in a nursing home in “The Rule of Jenny Pen,” a suspense thriller that seems designed primarily to let two old warhorses — John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush — chew as much scenery as they, and we, can stomach.

Rush plays Stefan Mortensen, an imperious New Zealand judge who has a stroke in the middle of a sentencing hearing. He heads to an out-of-the-way nursing home for recuperation, where he talks condescendingly to his roommate, Tony Garfield (George Henare), a retired rugby player

Tony looks tough, but it turns out there’s someone who terrifies him: Dave Crealy, played by Lithgow. Dave appears to be a dotty patient at the nursing home, who wears on his hand a doll’s head puppet that he calls Jenny Pen. It doesn’t take Stefan long to learn, the hard way, that Dave is a psychopath who brutally terrorizes the other patients while playing the addled old man for the harried and uncaring staff. 

Dave recognizes in Stefan both the ultimate challenge — a man of letters — and also the ultimate trophy to take down. Stefan, who needs a wheelchair to get around, finds himself in a battle of wills and wits with a ruthless opponent and with no assistance. 

Director James Ashcroft, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Kent (adapting a short story by Owen Marshall), mixes a fascinating concoction, finding creepy suspense within the sedate confines of a nursing home. It takes a few wild swings, and a few leaps of willful narrative ignorance (seriously, does the staff ever look at the surveillance footage?), but it earns its chills and scares.

The main draw to “The Rule of Jenny Pen” is watching Rush and Lithgow match their acting skills in a theatrical face-off. One could easily imagine Lithgow using his autocratic voice, the one he deploys so well in “Conclave,” to play the judge while Rush went to town as the psycho with his best “Pirates of the Caribbean” hamminess. Switching it up allows both actors to command their best solo moments, and allow them to spark off each other in their shared scenes. Together, they put some grand polish on what could have been a standard suspense thriller.

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‘The Rule of Jenny Pen’

★★★

Opens Friday, March 7, at AMC West Jordan and Regal Crossroads (Taylorsville). Rated R for violent content including sexual assault, and some language. Running time: 104 minutes.