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Saturday, June 1, 2019

"He Never Died" - The Henry Rollins Show The Movie

Curse large hotel lobbies. At a property like the one I am at now, it is a necessity, or at least so I thought. Visiting a set of hotels in Chicago with three franchises sharing one lobby, the chance of a family reunion deciding to set up craft services would not work. Yeah, you have the business of Downtown Windy City to smother the silence, but no hosting responsibilities.

That sounds like I am not enthused about my role in the industry. It may just mean there is a purpose for an all-encompassing hospitality degree. I am just used to taking care of guests who have issues with their room, not those who expect me to throw them a freaking party. Staffing is the true issue, but welcome to slow times in a college town.

The actual issue is that I may one I constantly come back to. I do not want to ever impose on anyone. Why is that not universal? It is one thing if you are renting our meeting room, but when you just claim the lobby? How much do you expect from a slow night room rate?

It is the curse of being patient and empathetic. Customer satisfaction is your calling, and when you help someone out, you know things are all around better. Too bad you only hear from the ones who are a pain in the ass to satisfy. Or they have never been satisfied, but that is just how I am defending any rumored shortcomings in the bedroom.

The lack of appreciation may get to us all. You start to develop a chip on your shoulder, and eventually it becomes a boulder that you need to chuck. It is better than constantly lashing out because throwing pebbles is just annoying to a perceived adversary. A genuine stone will finish them off. A possible mess to clean up is why we keep letting it snowball.

You cannot cut yourself off from people. If you do, you will be the considered the asshole. Imagine an eternity of that and you get the Henry Rollins starring classic "He Never Died."

I do not know what it is, but I have always been hoping for a good Henry Rollins movie. He is a cult of personality (Rollins and Bernie 2020) that you want associated with any flick and I have yet to find a supporting role that I have not enjoyed. The thing is, with the exception of "Feast," he may be the only reason to sit though some bad films.

There are some redeeming qualities to "Johnny Mnemonic" and "Lost Highway", but definitely not "The Chase." Since there is not any range to his performances, one can be trepidatious about the idea of him in a leading role. Especially when the film is from a production company with an intro reel suitable only for PS2 games.

As I stated, Rollin's is a cult of personality. If you can let him be him, it should work. He would be the perfect "Highlander: The Series" immortal, so his immortal flesh eater character in "He Never Died" may be perfection on a streaming service.

Well, that is hyperbole. You need a Scottish accent somewhere with this premise to be perfect...or whatever Christopher Lambert can bring to the table.

Jack seems to be burnt out. He just has to live, but nothing seems to motivate him. Even thugs mistakenly attacking him does not get his pulse rate up. A little tape and Visine, the man is ready to be an hour early for Bingo.

Finding out that a daughter he never knew he had has tracked him down is a bit of hiccup to his existence, but he might be to dull to keep her attention. Worrying about her finding out that he may survive on human blood and viscera might be a waste of time. She would be so bored, her efforts to get him out on the dating scene would be moot.

Perhaps kidnapping his daughter will get him to bring out some fight from him. What could be his secrets that make someone want to waste small-time crooks to find out? Is it wise to give a guy who may predate the Bible a reason to get out of bed.

"He Never Died" is an excellent allegory for those who seem to just be existing because the alternative is frowned upon. My experience with this is being cynical and feeling life is wasted on the young. To imagine 5,000 years of that serves as a wake-up call that your life could be worse. The real challenge is realizing you have new things to try and little time to use.

Henry Rollins is ideally cast in this feature. He has been a cultural mainstay for 30-plus years and his fans feel that he needs to be constantly relevant. Jack shows us that concept may be more trouble than it is worth, and the writing and performance allows the viewer to appreciate his struggles. This results in a strong black comedy that benefits from the lack of directorial resources.

"He Never Died" almost suffers because of Netflix's previews imagery sells it as a straight horror movie. If you are not in the mood for gore, you will pass by it. If you do not have the attention span for what is essentially a play on film, you will be surprised in the wrong way.

This film may solely be for the fans of Rollins. "He Never Died" shows that an appreciation of "Black Flag" indicates wisdom. It is a film for the wise, so it might not be a Thanksgiving recommendation because there is at least one uncle who will not get it. Try to tell that guy that Rollins is Cash 2.0 or just two since he does not understand smartphone updates.

Film Affinity - Espana
Film Affinity - Espana


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