Hesher [Blu-ray]

The performances are fine, the directing is OK, and the overall premise is strong, but this movie never finds its tone, and the writing just isn't compelling. Given the premise, what should work here is humor, but the plot is saddled with too much emotional weight for the director to be reasonably expected to wring humor out of Hesher's intrusion onto this unassuming suburban family. It's hard to get a laugh out of a flaming diving board and subsequent VD confession when they're being forced upon a child who is already dealing with a serious familial trauma and a despondent, grieving father.And that's where the writing fails: for most of this movie, I didn't really see Hesher and TJ's dad as really all that different, because it's not until the last 10 minutes of the movie that the viewer gets a glimpse into TJ's life before his mom's death. Having never assumed that TJ had previously been living in a kind of Leave it to Beaver fantasy world, I had no grasp on just how much his life had changed since her death -- I could only tell that he and his father were very sad and angry. Moreover, Hesher just seemed like another in a string of oddities in an otherwise decentralized life. That means that rather than feeling a sense of momentum and culmination as the movie climaxes, I was left wondering why the movie's close was presented with all these grandiose emotions I just wasn't feeling and why I hadn't laughed more.Ultimately, this movie would have been stronger if the writer hadn't tried to cram all this self-serious, hyperemotional content into it or if the writing created clearer distinctions between TJ's life before and after Hesher's arrival.

I saw this when it was in theaters seven times!!! I kept bringing friends to see it & it's become one of my all time favorite movies.It's two of Hollywood's biggest stars in a very small & independent film that literally gives the middle finger to mainstream Hollywood garbage.It's dark & sad and features an unlikely comic/tragic hero who rescues three drowning souls by reminding them, in his own way, that life is for the living. While not overtly apparent, Hesher has a deep philosophical message for the world that will likely be lost on the typical popcorn and Pepsi guzzling movie crowd who are willing to happily toss away $15 on another procedural poo fest like a Fast & Furious or SAW movie.Hesher's solid foundation, as with any movie, is it's great script. Top that with great acting (maybe JGLs best performance ever).Hesher will make you cry and laugh and in the end will leave you with the certainty that you've just seen something,but leaves it to you to figure out exactly what that is. And that's EXACTLY what good art should do.Hesher is not for the masses...it's for the intelligent. Oh, and....METALLICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This movie is the emotional equivalent of Sharknado. At some points the emotional depth is enough that you think this is a really good movie, sometimes the humor is dark enough you think this is something you'll tell your friends about, but towards the end you realize that the people who made this movie didn't know what the frack they were doing. It's like they had two competing teams making the same movie. One was a real Hollywood team and the other is a team of 4-chan-posting, web-trolling high school teenagers. Then at some point the scripts and editing got switched and they end up with an incoherent mix of meaningful philosophy and stupid jokes. It's not a comedy (not even a dark comedy), and it's not a drama. It's just a bad movie. This movie just barely made 3 stars, only because I stuck around long enough to see the movie's last scene, which was funny in a very silly, stupid, teenage way. The movie is definitely a B movie, even though Portman and Gordon-Levitt are in it. By the way, Gordon-Levitt and Portman were HORRIBLE actors. Especially Gordon-Levitt. I mean HORRIBLE. JESUS!Spoiler alert. Okay, my real beef is the funeral scene. When the kid and dad join Hesher in "walking with grandma" the movie loses all coherence. That scene is so stupid it makes the movie lose all credibility. That scene tips the movie from introspective dark humor to Ben Stiller-style non-sensical lampooning. That scene alone made it go from 5 to 3 stars.

My high school buddy Brian wrote this film, or at least the foundational story of it, and I read the original script. We went to high school in an affluent, white, surfer-y southern CA town, and there was a small, interesting Hessian subculture that Brian obviously drew some inspiration from. As a disclaimer, I know some of the behind-the-scenes stuff, but that actually hasn't tainted my feelings about this film. Despite it veering very heavily from Brian's original vision, I think it's overall a great movie. The young protagonist does an amazing job; and Levitt is humorous, complex, and very memorable as the Hesher. I loved the dark humor and antisocial vibe. This is a bold film, and well-directed by one of the members of the Australian Blue-Tongue Films collective. (Personally, I like David Michod's work -- short films, The Rover -- a bit better, but that's just me. And Michod contributed to Hesher.) I liked how this film is populated with people who've fallen through the cracks, good but damaged people trying their best. Hesher captures the horror of life quite well, but balances things out with humor and humanity. And if you see Susser's short film "I Love You Sarah Jane", you'll see some of the ideas that were more fleshed out in feature length film format here in Hesher. There are some indie movie cliches and problems with Hesher; but it goes to show what makes a good movie -- not necessarily a huge budget or special effects, etc -- just strong performances by actors in a film that's willing to be different, be subversive, push boundaries, and embrace the Hessian/Hesher in all of us. It was also really cool to see this film made, the whole process of going from script to screen. I'm glad it happened.

I like films that don't fit into easy definable boxes , that are a bit off the wall , that combine many things drama , humor ,sadness etc etc. This is such a movie. Heartfelt and touching , odd and off the wall , funny and sad. If you are looking for some thing other than another boring billion pound action blockbuster check this out . Brilliantly acted , the entire cast are first class particularly Piper Laurie who shines as the kind hearted grandma. I wont tell you the plot , watch it then file next to other great films such as Secretary , American Beauty and Ghost World that you'll want to revisit as the years roll by. Go on take a chance.

Originally, my sole interest for watching this movie was that Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in it. And once again, his performance was spectacular. And so was the rest of the cast in a story of a dangerously, aggressively chaotic metal-head squatter moving in on a grieving family, uprooting the lives of all and making them deal with their lot.An instant entry in to my personal favourites list.

So einen schlechten Film habe ich wirklich selten gesehen!!!! Also wer hier eine gute Bewertung abgegeben hat, der hat wirklich keinen Geschmack! Ich weiß Geschmäcker sind ja bekanntlich verschieden aber das grenzt an Geschmacksverirrung....Wer einen guten Metall Film sehen will sollte sich lieber Deathgasm, Heavy Trip, Eat the Rich oder Lords of Chaos kaufen, einfach jeden anderen Film lach! Dieser hat absolut garnichts mit einem Metall-Film zu tun, außer das man alte Metallica Lieder hört wenn der Hauptdarsteller Auto fährt... aber nur Metallica, einmal hört er sogar Motörhead....Der Film ist für mich auch total sinnlos, und ein asoziales Verhalten dar, einfach genauso wie es die “ normalen Leute “ sehen wollen oder denken das metlar so sind, wirklich Müll!Für den Hauptdarsteller ist die Rolle auch nichts, einfach nur übertrieben sein Verhalten etc. Finger weg, nicht mal 1 Euro wert der Film!

An interesting film with good non-stock characters and Metallica playing throughout. Great casting (two of my favourite actors actually) and more metal than ya ma's kettle. I would recommend this.

Excellent movie....covers the full range of emotions, great dialogue and acting throughout and with a classic metal soundtrack to top it off