Hesher

We rented this movie because we have loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson and Natalie Portman in several other films. This movie worked at being horrible and offensive on just about every level from an adult being "friends" with an 11 year old (and the father and grandmother just accepting it) to the sappy predictibility of the plot. At no time did this movie have any believable moments. Even the special effects were cheesy and unbelievable (does the technical adviser understand how gasoline works?). The dialogue was inane(how many times can you use the f word before it loses its shock value?) I feel certain that the actors probably cringe that they were ever in such a terrible movie. Certainly everyone in this movie can do better. There was no "feel good" moment at any time and the supposed resolution was just as unsatisfying. Save your money!!

Comical and yet darkly weighty. This movie centers on hopelessness, and yet is not without hope, hidden in the very darkness of the jokes it cracks. Feint and hidden hope hides in the cracks of this movie's dirty sidewalk worthy and back alley wicked world. And this hope, hidden if extant at all in most Sundance films, was found not superseding the dark pain of pathetic lives, but in that very pain, and at the very bottom of it. For, only when dark death (Hesher) enters into the broken home at the heart of this story for a second time, or rather, in a tangible way, can there be movement. Stagnation falls on the victims of common tragedy. The death of a mother and wife becomes the death of a household and a once happy family. But Hesher forces himself upon this family, as a deafening wake up call. And though the director himself suggested in a Q and A that Hesher was a symbol of death, his character clearly has an arch that would suggest that he becomes the very opposite by the end. Hesher transforms as the lives around him transform. Dark death no longer rules – and eventually is no more. Hesher symbolically washes himself as he enters into his new home, and by the end it is clear that he himself - death itself - has the ability to bring the father and son closer together than they ever could have been before. Thus, as death is found inevitably in life, life is found unbelievably in death. And so speaks this wonderfully honest and profanely sensitive film about life and death - and life.

First up I'd like to say that I was looking forward to seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a new movie, he is a talented actor. Unfortunately I was let down by the story, dialogue and direction. All of which are sub-par. Pretty much every second scene had some pointless vulgarity, whether it be explicit sexual descriptions or extreme swearing. In some movies this is called for, and adds to the direction, but in this instance it was absolutely pointless. The "little reward" I hint to in the title is a cliché moral that is revealed in the end. I did feel moved for moment, but then I just reminded myself of the previous hour and a half, and got annoyed that I sat through the whole thing. Not worth the time.

Hesher is an interesting movie with a surprisingly upbeat, positive, and warm message at it's core. Hesher himself, while aptly acted, is a vulgar, heavy metal, chaotic, force of seeming destruction. He is essentially a plot device created to facilitate emotional growth and change in the lives around him. Some people will clearly A) Be entirely too dense to grasp this concept, B) Judge it entirely on it's vulgarity, thus ignoring it's message, or C) Understand it and appreciate it for what it is. Whereas some movies rely on overly positive, loving, compassionate, understanding, and patient characters to get it's point across, "Hesher" doesn't just deviate from that...it takes a huge steamy dump on it. It's a symbol that not everyone needs group therapy to get over a personal crisis. That your world won't end without some prophetic angelic figure gracing you with it's presence. Instead, it shows you the depths of anger and chaos. It shows you that you really CAN just...do it. Whether "it" is getting out of bed and choosing to start life anew, or to trash a backyard and set a swimming pool on fire. The emphasis is that if you just ignore the consequences, perceived or literal, at least you DID SOMETHING. To me that is a fantastic message, regardless of how abstract or vulgar it's portrayed. As to the movie itself, Hesher was played amazingly well. Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the character straight without it feeling cliché. You never quite know what his character will do, be it a seemingly offensive yet benign act that sets off a series of reactions that result in a positive conclusion, or setting a car on fire. It could be throwing explosives out a window, or helpfully picking up broken dish ware off the carpet. T.J. (Devin Brochu) nails the feeling of "angst", and has some pretty awesome rage moments you normally don't see from child actors. The father (Rainn Wilson) does a fair job as a broken down, depressed father, who's completely at a loss as to what to do and is so consumed by his own depression he ignores his child. It's similar to his character in "Super", not his best performance, but well performed. The grandmother "Piper Laurie" is very pleasant as a loving, kind, gentle figure. As for Natalie Portman's character, she seemed more of an inclusion just to further the concept of "Hesher" than a fully flushed out character. While her acting was spot on, it wasn't entirely necessary nor was her plot. She's hot though, so it's easy to let go. Ultimately this is a feel good movie in a Heavy Metal package. It has some, albeit vulgar, prolific metaphors for life that when thought over are actually spot on. You have to be able to set aside your offense, and see it for the touching movie it is to be able to enjoy it. I honestly felt that it's message was very heartfelt and sincere. If any of this sounds interesting, then watch "Hesher". If it sounds terrible, well, it's probably not for you.

For a film like this you've really got to ask what you want. A lot of people I know might not like it or really get it. I was looking for something a bit different to watch by myself, to engorge myself in. It's properly crude (in US terms) but that's kind of the point I think. I watch a lot of films and this one made me register to IMDb as I think it's probably under-rated. The acting is GOOD throughout. The cast is good (especially the kid...if the kids in Harry Potter were half that good we'd see them a lot in movies in the future...we won't) and the vibe is excellent. It's original without trying too hard and it didn't make me feel like I'd seen this film before. The other reviews seem to sum up the premise pretty much so I won't bother. I think this film could've gone bad many times over but the quality of it holds it together. It's a bit odd, a bit wrong, a bit sad, funny, witty, intelligent, brave and charming. I may be over egging this pudding but this film very nearly slipped under my radar and I'm very glad it didn't. When I'm hunting I reckon this is the kind of review I'd like to read to fire me up a bit. Eternal Sunshine meets No country for old men......or something :-)

If you like to see a guy who looks like a slob, acts like a monkey, doesn't care about anyone or anything, uses foul language, does drugs, and who just does what he wants to do at any given time and not a lot of that is pleasant, and just drifts in and out meet Hesher (Gordon-Levitt); and you have found your movie. Hesher invites himself into a grieving family, where the young son, TJ (Brochu), just lost his mother in a car accident and where the husband, Paul Forney (Wilson), is a basket case. Grandmother Madeleine (Laurie) tries to be the glue to hold all together but is not winning that battle. Now, some may say Hesher acts that way to get the family to snap out of their grieving and to get on with life. I think Hesher acts that way because he wants to and when something goes wrong and he is involved, he may say he's sorry, but not right away. Some may give Hesher too much credit for being a human being and, perhaps, wise. Hesher is nothing but an A-hole Supreme. I almost turned this off many times, but didn't because I wanted to see if TJ would knock the ever-loving out of Hesher. The kid who played TJ really took some hard knocks in this and even if he had a stunt double, I felt for the stunt double. You are going to experience, if you venture into this, a lot of crude sexual talk and jokes, some * on the TV, F-bombs galore, and really scary things with pruning clippers and toes. See? Oh, yes, throw in a little torture too. I just couldn't imagine anyone, especially Mr. Gordon-Levitt, taking on such a role. I don't call it great acting when one acts like a monkey and doesn't care about things. I call it liking being a slob with everything that entails. As you go along, and I hope you don't, you might stay because you want to see TJ get some breaks and also to see if he will kick the ever-loving out of Hesher. Almost didn't recognize Natalie Portman who did a very good job with what she was given. With those glasses she looked like someone else. I can understand the desire to not be recognized in a movie like this. Piper Laurie (she's alive?) seemed to be the only one that Hesher didn't bother and they got along. But, bless her heart, she did very good. I remember her from back in the day, good actress, very pretty. Does the movie save itself? I say NO even though Hesher does something really nice in the last scene. That dog won't hunt. Hesher's actions throughout were not the way to help a grieving family, if……..if that was his intention and I don't think it was. That last scene doesn't make up for all the hell-on-earth Hesher caused. I hope the copy-cats of the world are out catting-about and do not see this movie otherwise we will go absolutely mad if we experience more movies like this. And, the question I keep asking myself all the time: why are some movies made? This was not entertaining in the least. A satire? Give me a break. Now, I know you are curious about TJ kicking the ever-loving out of Hesher and did he? Let's just say TJ had his moments. Violence: Yes. Sex: Yes, * on TV Nudity: No. Language: Abounds with every word ever thought up

I feel compelled to write a review on this film, but I'm just not sure what to focus on or how to outline what I loved about it. The story is so unique, and so left of centre, that it's very hard to describe, let alone break down and review. When attempting to describe it to a friend, I found it very difficult, as it just sounds so crazy. It makes one think, how could this be that enjoyable. All I could really say was, 'you have to watch this film!', as it made me smile, laugh and connect, from opening scene to closing credits. After seeing the trailer for this, I was immediately interested. Mainly because of the crazy, ab-lib, don't-give-a-s**t nature of Hesher, actually reminded me of a friend, and this friend's antics and philosophy on life always amuse me, and more often than not, enlighten me to how this crazy world can be, and how you really shouldn't take things so seriously. Having such excitement for an upcoming film, you can quite often be let down. Luckily for me Hesher stood up, and was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I found the story to be simply brilliant. So random and unpredictable you never really knew where it was going, or what was going to happen next. I loved the way in which Hesher makes he's first appearance in the film, and how he somehow, without trying (so it seems), finds he's place in Grandma's home. The dialogue was simply gold and oh so funny at times, that it made me want to re-watch the film as soon as it concluded, to pick up on the quick wit and laugh all over again. The scene at the pool was definitive for me. So funny and so strange. I couldn't help but enjoy and admire the way Hesher went about things in that scene, letting himself completely go, without a fear of consequence. Acting on he's most primal impulse. Not so much in anger, but in freedom, and having fun at the expense of a few 'versatile solutions for modern living'. Hesher is an amazing character, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is brilliant. This might sound ridiculous to some, but I think it was worthy of an award, as this is a true embodiment of a character. There is no Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this film, there's only Hesher. I haven't seen that many of Joseph's movies, but I do remember '500 Days Of Summer', and this is polar opposites as far as role is concerned, and not many actors could make such a leap, convincingly. I also became a fan of Natalie Portman after this. I love the fact she took on a role that was so different. Her character's plainness, honesty, and self-confessed faults, made her simply beautiful to watch throughout. Devin Brochu as the main boy which the story revolves around is amazing. He's level of dramatic execution is spot on in every scene, and he's so believable as TJ. The film has such rich characters, which are all played to perfection. The Grandma is also worthy of a mention, providing so much love to an otherwise somewhat tragic story. This film manages to mix humour, sadness and heart like very few films can. Its films like this that can pick people up and put them back on their feet. It actually made me feel better about life, and less worried about the ridiculous incidentals that can make us anxious and get us down. I'm not sure how this film managed to tap into such thoughts and emotions, but somehow it did. There is no comparative circumstance in the film for me, nor is there an obvious message that everyone can relate to, it is simply a story with colourful characters, with simple lives, told in such a unique and crazy way, that for some reason you commit to it and totally embrace it, only to feel on top of the world for having done so.

I'm so disappointed; I hated it. I love Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Natalie Portman and Piper Laurie. I couldn't wait to see them together. My favorites are "Mysterious Skin" for Gordon-Leavitt and "Brothers" for Portman so I think I've earned my "not squeamish, not a movie wuss" badge. But Hesher is so vulgar and gross I just got sick of it. Although all of the performances were excellent, especially the new kid, David Brochu, this one left me with one big question -- why? They had to have read the script to say the lines! There were four people in the theater when I saw it last week. None of them looked pleased when we left.

total waste of time. I can't believe that a script this bad was made into a film. I guess director Spencer Susser is Passionate about making movies (he probably prefer the word film). Just like ad wood. Only he acutely convinced good actors to be in is film. For them it is a good movie to show what they have. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in doing some fine acting here but the film gave me the feeling of here is a movie about poor depressed people made by abundant Hollywood people that know nothing about the characters they make the film about. I'm sure they all felt they are doing an important movie. But For anyone who knows something about life this movie is ridiculously silly.

I don't understand all the great reviews, I just watched this movie and it was horrible. It was so unbelievable, the kid looks like he's 10 but goes to high school? Some messed up stranger moves in and no one questions it? A stranger that curses and walks around almost naked smokes and drinks in your house with your child and mother, sorry but this would not happen. I get that they were trying to make a movie about a father and son and how do they live after the death of his wife/mother, but this movie was long and the most boring movie I've seen in a long time. I kept waiting for some big moment that would turn the movie around, but it just wasn't there. I'm an Indie film lover but don't waste your time.