“Y’know how I have a list of actors who I will blindly follow to any film? Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on that list. This is why Hesher moved up my priority list. I didnt really know too much, or anything really about this film. I knew the following:
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt
-Natalie Portman
-Metallica featured on the soundtrack
-something about a distraut little kid
-JGL is shirtless for most of the film.
The first point was enough to grab my interest. The final one was enough to seal the deal.
With the minimal knowledge I had of the film, it really wasn’t at all what I expected. All the hype about Metallica and the title logo design made me think there was a much bigger rock element to the film. There wasn’t.
Okay, so here’s the deal. You have a kid, TJ, dealing with his mom’s death (although it took a while to explicitly say what was going on) and his dad’s depression. He meets Hesher, this crazy burn out rocker wannabe, who somehow forces himself into TJ’s life (and home).
I think that the film had a lot of potential, but needed to be reworked a bit. The characters felt really hollow, and there was a big disconnect between much of what was going on. However, the ending was really heartfelt and satisfying. But the rest of it was just weird and awkward.
I feel like the majority of Hesher’s antics were just done for shock value. While I can appreciate that, it just didnt flow with the rest of the film. But I will say that JGL played the role fantastically. Its very different for him, but I absolutely loved the fact that you could see that classic grin of his occassionally break thru the dirty long hair and scruff. So as a fan of his, it was worth the watch. But I wouldnt otherwise recommend the film.
Hesher – \m/ \n