A nice review:http://angelfire.com/pq/moviereviews/page282.html
"The Butcher" (2008)
Merle Hench is an enforcer for a San Fernando mob outfit, twenty years ago he had a decent reputation as a pro-boxer, but that was then.
Cool and soft spoken, Merle’s an anachronism, a man out of place and out of time.
He’s set up to take the fall for a multi-million $ heist of a rival mob boss.
A habitual gambler on a 20 year losing streak, Merle’s luck turns as he survives the trap and winds up with a piece of the take and the girl.
Merle might have been content to just disappear and spend his windfall with Jacqueline.
But the betrayal of his 20 years of loyalty snapped something inside. Merle Hench, otherwise known as the Butcher has learned to live and let live to keep on going, but not this time.
Everyone thought his nickname was a joke, what they didn’t know was that Merle had a dark side, a secret past that earned that awful name.
Underestimating Merle Hench would be their biggest mistake. Every dog has his day... The Butcher will have his.
Directors
http://www.jesse-johnson-fans.com
Charlie Valentine - WINNER Best Screenplay Monaco Film festival 2009, WINNER Best Picture AOF Pasadena 2009, Naples Italy Film festival - currently in competition: Idaho international Film Festival, Orlando International Film festival, Cinema City International Film Festival.
Director:"Green Street Hooligans Pt:2.""The 5th Commandment.""Charlie Valentine.""The Butcher.""Alien Agent.""The Last Sentinel.""Pit Fighter.""The Honorable."
The Girlie club scene in "Charlie Valentine." - Starring - Raymond Barry, Michael Weatherly.
Festivals
"The Butcher" (2008)
Official Selection Cinema City International Film Festival, Universal City. (2007).
Official Selection Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. (2007).
Production on "Charlie Valentine." 2008.
Raymond J. Barry, Michael Weatherly, James Russo, Tom Berenger, Keith David, Steven Bauer, Maxine Baen, Valerie Dillman, Lisa Catara.
Written & Directed by Jesse Johnson, Cinematographer Jonathan Hall.
Professional Affiliations
Cinema City international Film Festival Gala red carpet event, "The Butcher" team; Charlie Crowe (Producer), Jamie Johnson, Jesse Johnson, Keith David (Larry Cobb), Owen David.www.thebutcher-movie.com
Jesse Johnson's Interests
General
Australian DVD cover.
German DVD cover.
Music
Jimmy Page, Mozart, Bela Bartok, Jim Morrison, Schubert, Leonard Cohen, Prokofiev, Rolling Stones, Gnarls Barkely, Django Reinhardt, Marcello DeFranacisci, Johnny Cash, Chet Baker, Rachmaninov, The Who.
Movies
"The Butcher" (2009) Merle "The Butcher" hench is an aging mobster with a ridiculous nickname that he has tried to lose for twenty years, when he’s presented with a situation that allows him to make something of his misspent life, he seizes the opportunity with bloody consequences.
"Eric Roberts as you’ve never seen him before, an awesome and breath taking performance, thrilling and terrifying at the same time."
Television
Bokeem Woodbine as ChinaTown Pete - "The Butcher."
Timothy V. Murphy as "Tyke" - "The Butcher."
Eric Roberts As Merle "The Butcher" Hench and Irina Bjorklund as "Jackie."
Merle "The Butcher" Hench with Winchester.
Books
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
The Old man and the Sea.
Our Man in Havana.
Men Without Women.
Pierre.
Tales of Unrest.
Nostromo.
Youth.
The Great Gatsby.
Anything by Charles Willeford, Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammet.
(Collector/reader of First editions: Hemingway, Steinbeck, Conrad, Greene, TE.Lawrence.)
Heroes
Writers: Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Conrad, Grahame Greene, William Faulkner.
Filmmakers: Samuel Fuller, Sam Peckinpah, Akira Kurosawa, Don Siegel, Sergio Leone,Masaki Kobayashi, Stanley Kubrick, Vic Armstrong, David Lean, John Ford, Francois Truffaut, Jean Pierre Melville, Robert Aldrich, Elia Kazan, Kinji Fujisaku, Seijun Suzuki, Jean Luc Godard, Martin Scorcese, Robert Aldrich, Lucino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Michaelangelo Antonioni.
Real-life: Che Guevara, T.E. Lawrence, Larry Thorne, Carlos Hathcock, Randy Weaver, Winston Churchill.
Actors: Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Toshiro Mifune, Clint Eastwood.
And Eric Roberts!
Graham MCTavish as Big Marc - "Green Street Hooligans Pt.2."
Jesse Johnson
Steve Hart and Jesse Johnson
Graham McTavish, Jesse Johnson and Ross McCall - Hooligans!