He Never Died: There’s Something About Henry
Jack’s been in a rut lately. He sleeps, gets up, watches TV, sleeps some more, eats dinner at the nearby diner, sleeps, plays bingo and sleeps. Everyone all around him tries to break his routine, from the diner waitress with a crush, to his newly discovered daughter. Even a few low-level criminals weigh in, messing with Jack’s not-quite friends and not-quite close family. But they might have bitten off more than they could chew, because once Jack becomes focused on a problem he’s goddamn terrifying and he’s gunning for the criminals who keep him from enjoying his vegetarian dinner.
Although billed as a comedy-horror movie, He Never Died’s indie-ness stretches the definition of comedy…even black comedy. There are funny moments here and there, but the jokes themselves are very subtle. Much of the comedy comes from Henry Rollins, who play the main character Jack. Much of the humor comes from Rollins’ delivery of Jack’s lines. As a world-weary curmudgeon, Jack speaks in a flat monotone, replying to questions with one-word answers and approaching life with a single-minded sense of purpose. Rollins portrays Jack with a method-like intensity; there’s long, lingering shots of Rollins staring off into space or staring down a gangster. The sound effects are very well done; Jack’s routine is designed to keep him distracted, and the audience can tell when he isn’t distracted, because the noise in his head gets louder, overwhelming the action on screen.
The film isn’t without its flaws, although my complaints are very minor. The reveal about who Jack really is comes frustratingly late in the film. There are hints dropped about Jack’s true nature all throughout the movie, but the audience doesn’t learn about Jack’s true nature until near the very end. I would have liked to see the reveal a bit sooner. Also, there’s a few plot points that are deliberately left vague. This seems to be an indie-movie thing, and while I usually don’t mind not knowing the answer to every question a movie asks, I would have liked a little more resolution here. In particular, the implied happy ending doesn’t happen on screen, leaving open the possibility of a purported miniseries to take place. Maybe the miniseries will contain more answers, although there’s been no new talk of the miniseries for a few years.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of He Never Died will largely depend on how you feel about Henry Rollins as an actor. I’m a fan, so I found the movie a brilliant study in how to take a well-known intense personality and contain it. The film that mostly resembles He Never Died is 2002’s One Hour Photo. While the two movies are vastly different in their subject matter, both take an actor known for his expressiveness and direct that energy to moments of quiet rage. In the case of One Hour Photo it’s Robin Williams who plays a quiet psychopath. Williams’ performance in that movie is helped by his off-screen persona; the audience know exactly how manic Williams can be, and seeing him act quietly fills us with a tense dread, because we know he could explode at any moment.
He Never Died also rides on the back of Rollins’ reputation as a high-energy performer. When Rollins explodes (and trust me, he does explode) it’s all the more terrifying because the audience has watched him try to reign in his baser nature for most of the movie. Jack tries so hard to keep his feelings under wraps, and the camera does a masterful job showing the audience how difficult that is. Rollins’ rage is telegraphed, which makes even the smallest changes to his routine that much more important. A brilliant example of this is Jack’s diet. At the beginning of the film, Jack is a vegetarian, and makes a point of ordering eggplant parmesan at the diner. Later on, he orders a rare steak, and by that short bit of dialogue, the audience knows shit truly has hit the fan.
He Never Died is currently on Netflix and other VOD outlets.
He Never Died tl;drs
Quick summary: Jack spends his days playing bingo, watching TV and sleeping. His life is upended; however, by first his daughter and then by mob figures, intent on making his existence a living hell. Only they don’t know what they just stirred up…
Too many writers? Nope; writer/director Jason Krawczyk has got this.
Recommended if you like: Henry Rollins, intensity
Better than I expected? For a story filled with monotony, the script is very tight.
Worse than I hoped? The Big Reveal is drawn out a bit too long and could have dropped sooner.
Should it be rebooted? Too bad this isn’t a backdoor pilot; I can see a miniseries featuring Rollins’ character walking the Earth. A miniseries was announced in 2014, but no word since then.
Verdict: The minimalist script keeps its star front, center and subdued…until the time comes to unleash his anger.
Related Reading: Wiki article
Related Viewing: Red band trailer
