2011 2
Hesher
T.J. (Devin Bronchu) is a troubled kid. His mother has died in a car accident a few months before, his father (Rainn Wilson) is deeply depressed, his grandma (Piper Laurie) seems to be losing it and he is getting his ass kicked at school.
And then he meets Hesher (Joseph Gordon- Levitt), a tattooed headbanger with a penchant for weed, Metallica and blowing shit up. Hesher moves in his suburban house and brings with him total chaos. Initially T.J. hates the newcomer, but gradually, well, you know how these things go…
True, Hesher is basically the type of movie where a disfunctional misfit learns to live again with the help of a trickster, who offers valuable life lessons. Fight Club had a similar motif. As did Zorba the Greek, for that matter. Fuck it, even The Fresh Prince of Bel- Air was kinda similar in theory. But what keeps Hesher from sliding into mediocrity and indie- movie miserabilism is the acting. Bronchu is not a cute, lovable kid. He is an emotionally shut- off outcast, with serious problems. Wilson (Super) as his father is a revelation. Usually a comic actor, here he dissappears into a fogue of depression. And Piper Laurie (Carrie) is the heart of the piece, as the grandmother who doesn’t know how to put the family back together. Even Natalie Portman shows up as the girl next door, who T.J. develops a crush for.
But the real reason to watch this is Levitt, in perhaps his best role so far. His Hesher is an archetype and- at the same time- the kind of person everyone who was into metal and punk knew back in high school. With his home- made Misfits tattoos and his battered van, he is the ultimate Kill ‘Em All- era Metallica fan. He is funny and smart, but Levitt never makes him easy to like- mostly because he is a genuinly fucked- up individual and his presence is truly destructive. He has one particular scene with Piper Laurie, that is trully wondrous to watch.
Hesher’s plot is at times too far- fetched and the ending will struck many as melodramatic, but I say it’s definately worth watching, especially if you are sick of soulless blockbusters.
(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)
About the Author: CnB
on “Hesher”