Hesher
Tags: comedy, murder, violence, flashback, humor, revenge, storytelling

Plot synopsis:
Following the loss of his mother in a car crash, T.J. (Devin Brochu) falls into a state of depression. He becomes obsessed with the car his mother died in and follows it when it is towed away. He and his passive, depressed and pill-taking father Paul (Rainn Wilson) live with T.J.'s grandmother Madeleine (Piper Laurie), where they are soon joined by a squatter, Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a foul-mouthed, tattooed, heavy metal-loving lout.
After school, Dustin, a bully from the towing service, finds his car vandalized and blames T.J., who is saved and taken home by Nicole (Natalie Portman), a grocery store clerk. Hesher witnesses Dustin attacking T.J., but does nothing. Later, Hesher sets Dustin's car on fire, leading to police questioning T.J., but lack of evidence forces them to let him go. T.J. proceeds to spy on Nicole at the grocery store when Hesher appears and follows her home with T.J. She causes a fender-bender and is verbally assaulted by the other driver, when Hesher comes to her rescue by threatening him. He then takes Nicole and T.J. to a random house that is for sale. There, Hesher trashes the swimming pool and lights the diving board on fire before he shocks Nicole and T.J. by leaving them there alone. When the pair get back to Nicole's broken down car, it has a ticket in the window, at which point Nicole breaks down and cries about how bad her life is.
Later that night, T.J. and Paul get into an argument over dinner. Madeleine is saddened that there is 'nothing she can do', and goes to her room. Hesher says he'll walk with her in the morning, but the next morning, he finds her dead. T.J. steals his dad's credit card and takes money to buy the car back, but is told it's been removed. He decides to give the money to Nicole, but when he gets there she is having sex with Hesher, so he damages his van while telling both of them he doesn't want to see them again and leaves.
He threatens Dustin at his house and finds out the car was taken to be crushed. Dustin begins attacking T.J. until Hesher, who has been following him, appears and drags Dustin off him. T.J. tells him he still doesn't want to see him again and then goes to the junkyard. He climbs in the wrecked car and sleeps, dreaming of his mother's death. He wakes up when the car is going to be crushed and falls out. He returns home after seeing it destroyed. While getting ready for his grandmother's funeral, Nicole comes and asks for forgiveness and leaves him. At the funeral, T.J. is asked to say words for her, but has nothing to say.
Hesher walks in drunk and demands that the mourners listen to him. He tells a story about how when he was younger he blew up a car and shrapnel destroyed one of his testicles, and he was upset about it until he realized he still had one and a penis that works, and that Paul and T.J. both lost a loved one but still have each other, and that he promised to walk with Madeleine, so he takes the casket. He is followed by T.J. and Paul, who join him in walking her to the cemetery.
The next day, Paul shaves for the first time in weeks and shows T.J. the compacted remains of his mother's car, which Hesher has procured from the junkyard and dumped in the driveway. On their roof, he has painted in huge white letters "Hesher was here."

Review: At first, the character "Hesher" is sort of not likable but the way that Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays him, with a ' Cary Grant-ish' twinkle in his eye and his tongue placed firmly in his cheek, you can't help but cheer for this twisted rocker.
A great job of directing by Spencer Susser is evident by the way he has molded this young actor, with very little experience, into a character who's pain you can feel.
Lastly, kudos are in order for Piper Laurie, the attractive young leading lady of yore (she played Paul Newman's girlfriend in the "Hustler") and more recently was the witch of a mother in "Carrie", who makes the grandmother who is slowly loosing her marbles, a great friend and confidant of Hesher.
And a strange, reluctant "savior" that brings the family to the precipice of death; and life.I think the greatest theme in this film comes when Hesher says he lost a (body part), but he has another one.
Life is completely messed up, but we have each other.Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson, Devin Brochu: beautifully acted.
Metal, Loss, Arson, and Moving On. Simply put, Hesher is an exploration of loss: a universal experience shared by the film's characters: a nihilistic head-banging arsonist named Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a supermarket clerk with thick-rimmed eyeglasses and financial troubles named Nicole (Natalie Portman) who doesn't like being called "lady", a depressed widower named Paul (Rainn Wilson) who takes pills and sleeps all day, and a boy named T.J (Devin Brochu) who recently lost his mother, has a crush on an older woman, and is constantly bullied at school.There are equal moments of humor and sorrow that bring a unique balance to the film.
The irony here being that that the fact she would feel guilty about something like that makes her a good person and someone who really wants to help.There is great acting from all involved, particularly Levitt, Wilson, and Brochu.
The world is very dangerous for a child and you root for T.J. and hope he overcomes all the troubles he faces.All in all, Hesher is a great film that is at the same time both hilarious and moving.P.S. Best soundtrack ever.
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.
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..
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's titular character is a psychopath, a heavy metal loving maniac who uses foul language at the most inappropriate times, flies off the handle with violence and pyromania and generally frightens anyone who sees him.
The concept is still a little too bizarre and the final act gets way too melodramatic and schmaltzy, but the film hit me a lot more honestly and emotionally than I was expecting it too.I've always admired Levitt as one of the finest actors of his generation, but even I didn't think he could pull off a role like this.
The film takes a lot of time to get to this realization, but the time spent getting there is great fun to watch.Joseph Gordon-Levitt impresses me more every time I see him.
There is nothing wrong with that, her character just wasn't an important role to the story it seemed.One of the best aspects of this film was the relationship between Hesher and the grandmother, Madeleine, played by Piper Laurie.
Devin Brochu and Rainn Wilson, who play T.J and Paul Forney looks so compatible with Laurie and Levitt that it makes the acting look as natural as possible.This movie is incredibly GOOD and anybody who enjoys films of any kind should undoubtedly see this movie ASAP!.
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.
It's reckless and antisocial and esoteric and yet somehow it distills into a completely honest and unpretentious social satire that feels more documentary than parody.It would be hard to watch if it weren't so real.Huge props to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, Piper Laurie and Natalie Portman, but most of all to Devin Brochu, the 11-year-old moral center of this wasteland that we undeniably recognize as truthful while politely pretending it's a surreal dark comedy.I love this movie.
Piper Laurie is a wonderful actor and young Devin Brochu is a handsome boy and a good actor but nothing helps the film move along not even Natalie Portman.
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.
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.
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.
I'm a fan of both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman and having read some of the reviews on IMDb was expecting this to be a decent film, but, unfortunately, I couldn't have been more wrong.It's difficult to sit through the entire film because the story is so disjointed and disappointing.
I waited far too long to review this one and I don't know why.This may be a "story-driven" film but do not let that put you off.Repeat; DO NOT let that put you off!This is understated, hilarious, dramatic, violent, slow, edgy and everything else a character driven film is supposed to be.Even the ending starts off cheesy and predictable and then says "just kidding, we're better than that" and proceeds to make me laugh so hard I have to pause the film to finish laughing.Hesher is just cool.
I can't quite remember because I watched it a fair while ago but I think he was blackmailing the kid in some way and this was why the kid pretended he was friends with Hesher hence why his dad (who was beyond the point of caring about anything anyway) let Hesher stay.That's not a spoiler as the real story kicks in from there, just some reviewers here didn't seem to get why the dad wasn't kicking this guy out in the beginning and have complained that it wasn't realistic; there was a reason for it!An absolute must-see.
not having big expectations didn't work, I was pretty disappointed.The movie is not even about Hesher, its about a little kid lives with his chronic depressive father and his grandmother.
Somehow and in a senseless way a metal-head bump just pops up in the story, next thing you know hes living in the kid's house smoking weed and drinking beer in the coach, it made absolutely no sense the way Hesher ends up in there, as I said he just POPS UP and joins the family.I don't understand how Natalie Portman accepted to participate in this awful movie, if you ask me, don't waste your money, its not even worth your time.For me this is a 3/10 movie, I didn't give it a 1 because although the movie was incoherent, Gordon-Levitt delivered good acting as Hesher, as well as Portman as Nicole.
There are many things in the movie which comes off extremely outrageous and the foremost thing will be a young guy "Hesher" forcing himself into someone's house saying he is kid's friend and kid's dad and granny just accept his weird antics with open heart without even questioning that why the hell he is half naked in front of his young kid.
OK , first of all i must admit i am not the type that likes deep drama arty farty movies so i expected not much from this but you never know when you get to watch another Dancer in the Dark or Trainspotting and the music looked tempting so i gave it a shot.If you want to know what the movie is about read the other reviews , they cover it way better than i ever could but i simply had to write something here to let the world know this is worth the effort.Funny , gritty , painful with a storyline that reminded me of Charles Bukowski.
Paul (a bearded and despondent Rainn Wilson wallowing in his depression and filth) and son TJ (impressive newcomer Devin Brochu) are struggling to deal with the loss of wife and mother when in moves Hesher (Gordon-Levitt complete with long greasy hair and moronic tattoos) resulting in hilarious consequences.
Character developments were very good.You just feel sad for father, son and grandmother, in the meantime feel good with Hesher.Generally, cliché script and directing and some good musics make this movie watchable..
Some will love it, others will hate it, some will turn it off after 10 minutes, others will watch it a second time because they relate to it so well.J.G Levitt in my opinion gives his best performance as the loner Hesher.This is the story of one family devastated by loss and another individuals refusal to allow the world to get the better of him.
Certain types will find a good degree of truth to writer/director Spencer Susser's tonal chaos, while others will raise eyebrows, but a part of "Hesher" will resonate with everyone.Devin Brochu stars as T.J., who from the opening scene makes it clear he's trying to get himself killed at some point during the film.
He's a bit reckless, and as it turns out he and his father (Rainn Wilson) are grieving for his mother, who died just a couple months before.T.J's troubles lead him to an unfortunate encounter with a probably homeless chain-smoking metal rocker later to be introduced as Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who needless to say plays delightfully against type here.) Turns out that Hesher is about 10 times as reckless as T.J. and in a more brutal and calculating way.
This, of course, is not the world view of an kid in his early teens, and it leads to several emotional whirlwinds for T.J. as he starts to come of age.The script treats T.J. like an adult despite not being one: he curses regularly (which gets worse with Hesher around), he makes friends with people twice his age such as the grocery clerk at the local store (Natalie Portman) and in general he deals with things kids his age would rather not deal with.
Although the best and biggest roles are performed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Devin Brochu, Hesher and TJ, respectively.
(except the young boy, what does he know) Joseph Gordon-Levitt did gave a solid performance and Devin Brochu was quite good, I'll give them that.Hoping to see more of Devin in the future and hopefully he doesn't sink so low to play in raunchy movies that give the wrong impression about"real life".
And although the film is not a straight forward comedy I would rank it as one of the funniest of the year.The 2nd half of the film slows a bit when it actually has to face up and deal with the family issues it has laid out, but strong writing by Susser and acting by the young phenom Devin Brochu and superbly sad Rainn Wilson (playing the exact opposite of his cocky & confident Dwight Schrute character from The Office) keep it on track.
As I said on the beginning, the presence from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman and (on a lesser degree) Rainn Wilson might look like a commercial "hook"; however, they take their characters very seriously, and bring them such a force and conviction that I immediately forgot I was watching celebrities in order to fully focus myself in the characters.
I honestly did not know that Laurie kept acting (the last time I had seen her was 7 years ago, in an episode of the TV series Dead Like Me), but it was a pleasure to see her again fully displaying her big talent.In conclusion, Hesher deserves a very enthusiastic recommendation because of its excellent screenplay, solid direction and perfect performances.
I really think HESHER is a great film and it's helped me forgive Joseph Gordon-Levitt for his part in G.I. JOE.
Hesher Kicks Ass. Hesher played by Gordon Levitt Smith carries this movie about crudeness, recklessness, sadness, humor, adrenaline, rock, darkness, and great story telling.Raw and unchained you may laugh, you may cry, but you will surely enjoy it's sure out of the box brilliance.Hesher really has a bit of everything, but let's just say it's highly entertaining.It's also more complex than it seems.
I think each character was as important as the next -except for Natalie Portman who was great, but like many movies, I feel was there because there is some rule where a love interest needs to be thrown in to everything.
Fortunately, the film Hesher doesn't stop at just that, but expands the character of the same name to the point where we don't consider him a loser but a strangely placed hero caught up in a bad lifestyle.The character himself is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who steps about as far away from his 2009 (500) Days of Summer, gives an electrifying performance.
I hope one day, someone sees a film like Hesher by accident and then see what a good film looks like.Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman.
This film is about a young boy who has a strange relationship with a punk rebel, and also a crush on a shopkeeper.Despite having Natalie Portman and Joseph Gordon Levitt on board, "Hesher" is a terrible mess.
We rented this movie because we have loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson and Natalie Portman in several other films.
I know this sounds a bit weird but that's what really happens in the film; T.J. coincidentally meets the title character Hesher (Joseph Gordon- Levitt), who all of the sudden moves into his place.
There is a reunion of a great cast, the story is interesting and moving but the dynamic factor of Hesher is a bit a failure: his vulgarity, his wild attitude can be funny at start but after a while, the character is too much and he destroys the touch of reality of the movie.To extend my introduction, the family has fabulous people: it was good to meet again the great actor i spot by watching "Dark Angel" (see my review of his appearance in episode 1.17).
Wow. The movie Hesher is authentic and gritty story-telling and is the best kind of film-making.
There is not a hint of Dwight Schrute in Rainn Wilson's acting, though he is mostly depressed or angry until the end.Devin Brochu is great as TJ, a 10-year-old kid left stunned by the death of his mother and frustrated and angry by his seeming inability to combat a bully at school.Natalie Portman does a wonderful job portraying the hapless cashier who wonders if her boss hates her for her lack of salesmanship at the Super Dollar.
While she does show TJ a positive side of life, she also demonstrates that everyone has their own weaknesses, and that it is up to the individual to decide how best to cope.Joseph Gordon-Levitt is nothing less than mind-shattering in his pivotal role as Hesher, the mysterious seemingly homeless young long-haired rebel that doesn't know what he is looking for until he reaches a revelation smoking medical marijuana with the ten-year-old protagonists' grandmother, played beautifully by Piper Laurie, the night before she passes away.
Kid actors are always hit-or-miss, and I felt Devin Brochu did a great job in his role.No one questions Hesher's presence in the house because they are dealing with other issues, the father his crippling grief over the loss of his wife, and the grandmother is dealing with not only that, but her own terminal illness.As for the "lost nut" scene, I came away from that with the feeling that Hesher was saying to TJ and his father, "You've lost a mother, but you still have a father, and you've lost a wife, but you still have a son." I found the "casket walking" scene to be cathartic for the characters, and touching to watch.
Now the film never tells us one thing about Hesher, but I thought in doing that it created more of a character that stands out on the screen.Devin Brochu is truly a remarkable kid actor.
And honestly I love all the performances, very believable to their respective characters, especially that of Piper Laurie as Grandma and Devin Brochu as TJ, and yeah, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, good as always.
Hesher is a very interesting story which is about a young rebel named Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who forces his way into a kid's life (TJ played by Devin Brochu) after he spots him in grief by throwing a rock in an old abandoned home.
After watching Hesher, you are left in a very depressing feel as the films just ends.
"Even if you lose one ball, you still have another," Hesher teaches us, an "always look on the bright side of life" message which is in keeping with the film's hokey, disguised sentimentality.Both Portman and Gordon-Levitt are watchable, but their characters don't convince as real people.