David Mamet's Henry Johnson Releases Today

The Counter Culture is alive...

I have a dream. It goes something like this. Instead of donating to that idiot woman on Give Send Go, which has now given the Left all the justification they need in their ongoing dehumanization of half the country, Conservatives could send all of that money, over half a million, to spend $10 bucks to rent David Mamet’s new film, released outside the studio system, Henry Johnson.

What a message to send. What a way to monetize building a counterculture movement rather than a pitiful flail amid a pointless culture war. If Bob Dylan is right, that money doesn’t talk, it swears, then let it swear Mamet style.

This is one of the greatest monologues in all of cinema history:

James Foley, the director of Glengarry Glen Ross died the other day from brain cancer. What better way to honor his work than by getting a ticket to Henry Johnson:

I didn’t get Henry Johnson the first time I watched it. I had to go through it a few times. I’ve also bought a ticket to rent it, not just to watch it one more time, but because I want them to know that some of us out here appreciate what they’re doing in releasing this film.

Why doesn’t Hollywood value him anymore? Because he’s a Trump supporter. Listen what he says about him in this video. I agree with every word.

Henry Johnson is a play in three acts — yes, a play. It was written as a play, as Glengarry was, and later became a movie. It begins with a lawyer (Evan Jonigkeit) trying to get his friend a job at his law firm and must convince his boss (Chris Bauer) that he’s worthy. His friend had gotten a woman pregnant and wanted her to have an abortion. She refused, but he found a way to kill the baby anyway and was given a limited sentence.

The opening scene uncovers the real reason for the meeting between the lawyer and his boss - he stole money to buy his friend a fancy lawyer. Why would he do that? It’s explained in the scene brilliantly. Then, the lawyer goes to jail. In the second act, he meets with a charismatic cellmate (Shia LaBeouf) who then manipulates him into escalating his situation and takes him to a standoff with police.

Then, the lawyer is confronted with the third man he’ll meet (Dominic Hoffman), and a similar scene plays out. Is he strong enough to resist a stronger mind convincing him to act against his own self-interests? That’s the question Mamet is asking us to contemplate.

Mamet is such an intelligent writer. What you see is rarely what you get. Take his film The Edge, which I’ve watched many times and notice something new every time.

Yes, on the one hand, it’s a survival movie where three men try to outrun a grizzly bear, but it’s also a power play between the various archetypes in society. Rich man, poor man, who will come out on top? Even in survival, the man with the best skills and intelligence prevails, the one upon whom everyone else depends. It took me years to figure that out.

Great lines I quote with my daughter all of the time.

“When you walk through the airport with her, everyone that saw you said, ‘There goes a man with a plane.’”
”Never feel sorry for a man who owns a plane.”
”What one man can do, another can do.”
"Most people lost in the wilds die of shame.”

The film lays it out, of course, with a recurring metaphor about the rabbit and the panther:

Why is the rabbit unafraid? Because he’s smarter than the panther. It doesn’t have to be a Conservative/Liberal rumination. It could also be why humans endured while being threatened throughout our history. Either way, The Edge is packed with interesting ideas that one might not realize upon first glance.

Henry Johnson is similar, though there isn’t as much of a plot. But because David Mamet writes it, every line is a rat-a-tat-tat and every monologue a drum solo. The performances are better than any you will see this year. Or at least as good. Of course, the industry will ignore them because they’re lowly cowards.

In my dream, Henry Johnson made so much money that Hollywood was put to shame for throwing away one of the best American writers alive today. Then, the trades would be forced to write that story. They’d be forced to admit that all of them suck. They would be forced to sing the praises of the counterculture. They’d see MAGA as a movement that builds and makes art.

But alas, it’s only a dream. The story they’ll tell instead is the one they want to tell, that MAGA tried to bail out a racist. Then, they can live with themselves for all they’ve done. Anyway, If you do watch it, let me know what you think.

Buy a ticket here, if you are so inclined. $10.

Have a great weekend.