Hesher (film)
Encyclopedia
Hesher is a 2010 American dark comedy/drama film
written and directed by Spencer Susser
and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt
, Rainn Wilson
, and Natalie Portman
. First screened at the Sundance Film Festival
January 22, 2010, the film was released in the United States on May 13, 2011. Most of the songs on the film's soundtrack are tracks from American heavy metal
band Metallica
and British heavy metal
band Motorhead.
) and he are forced to live with T.J.'s elderly absent-minded grandmother (Piper Laurie
).
After an argument with his father, T.J. goes into a construction project on his way to school, where he crashes his bicycle upon hitting a beam. Angrily, he throws an object into a bay window of a seemingly unoccupied project home and breaks it. This disturbs a squatting resident named Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt
), who threatens T.J., but when a cop arrives, Hesher tosses an explosive into the police car and flees. T.J. goes to school where he again encounters Hesher, smoking a cigarette in the school's staircase, before getting beaten and humiliated by Dustin, a schoolyard bully.
After school, Dustin finds his car vandalized (presumably by Hesher) and chases T.J. into the parking lot of a local supermarket. A young woman, grocery clerk Nicole (Natalie Portman
), jumps into the fight, defending T.J., and gives him a ride home — where, to his surprise, Hesher walks in and makes himself at home. T.J. is disconcerted but unsure what to do about the intrusion; T.J.'s grandmother, however, takes kindly to the young stranger, treating him as a grandson-type figure. Later that night during dinner, grandma Forney remarks she would like T.J. to walk with her, and T.J. responds that he has to attend school. Hesher, irritated by T.J.'s defiance, states in his usual vulgar manner that a walk with his grandmother is more important than school, citing the danger of "granny rapists."
The next day at school, Dustin catches up with T.J. in the boys bathroom, forcing his head into an urinal as he demands that T.J. eat the urinal cake. Hesher appears, watches for a moment, and walks away. Feeling betrayed, T.J. confronts Hesher about doing nothing to defend him, after which Hesher asks T.J. into his van; they go to Dustin's house, and Hesher sets Dustin's car on fire. The next morning, the police arrive to Mrs. Forney's house to bring T.J. in for questioning, but no subsequent charges are filed due to lack of evidence.
The following day, T.J. goes to the supermarket in which Nicole works to observe her, unbeknownst to him, Hesher had followed him there. After Nicole has finished her shift, Hesher and T.J. follow her in Hesher's van, until she hits another vehicle in a rear-end collision. Hesher scares off the other driver by pinning the blame on him, and subsequently offers a ride to Nicole due to her car failing to start. Once in the van, Hesher takes Nicole and T.J. to "his uncle's" house and the three swim. Once there, Hesher acts belligerently, throwing virtually everything into the pool, and using lighter fluid to set the diving board on fire, then jumping off. Shortly afterward, Hesher leaves suddenly, claiming he has a doctors appointment, because "it burns when [he] pees". After T.J. and Nicole realize Hesher lied about it being his uncle's house, they walk back to Nicole's car. Nicole, due to leaving her vehicle parked illegally, subsequently gets a ticket, about which she falls into depression, seemingly because she has a 'dead end' life, a 'dead end' job, and can't afford to pay for her lifestyle.
Once back at the house, Hesher asks about the confrontation, to which T.J. responds negatively, bitter towards Hesher's carefree attitude. He then goes to a junkyard, where the car in which his mother died is in the process of being crushed. It is there that he bumps into the bully Dustin (who works there), and is intimidated and saddened that there is no way to get the vehicle back. Later that night, T.J. and his father get into an argument over dinner, in which Hesher is in the middle, resulting in both smashing their plates to the ground. Grandma subsequently is saddened that there is 'nothing she can do', and goes to her room. Hesher soon goes into her room where they make random conversation and Hesher teaches her how to smoke from a water bong, telling her 'it's much better than cigarettes'. Hesher then promises to go walking with her in the morning. The next morning, Hesher walks in to find she had died.
With the family thrown into an even deeper depression, and Hesher's influence rubbing off on them, Hesher angrily says he needs time to himself, in fear he'll 'hurt someone', and runs off. T.J. then goes to Nicole's apartment in hopes of giving her money to pay for her ticket, but subsequently walks in on Hesher and Nicole having sex. Angered, T.J. beats on Hesher's car, threatens to hit him, calls Nicole a 'fat prostitute', and rides off on his bike
. He goes back to the house, and destroys all of Hesher's possessions that are in the garage, and takes a pair of cutting shears. With vengeance in his heart, T.J. goes to Dustin's house, where he threatens to cut off Dustin's toes if he doesn't tell the truth about the car being destroyed. This plan backfires, and Dustin angrily pins T.J. to the ground, unaware that Hesher is outside the sliding door. Hesher then cuts off part of Dustin's nose, and T.J., still bitter at Hesher, runs off, saying he never wants to see him again.
T.J. then goes to the junkyard to sit in his mother's car (now atop many other junked cars) and ends up falling asleep in the back seat. The next morning, the car is picked up and ready to be crushed, when T.J. falls through the windshield. Angry, T.J. watches the car crushed, and walks off bitterly. A few hours later, T.J. and his father attend the funeral of grandma, at which time Hesher (now drunk) makes a vulgar speech that signifies the gift of family, and portrays one bad thing can be made into a good. At the reception, Hesher, with his usual defiance, tells T.J. he promised to walk with her (grandma), and ends up wheeling the casket outside, so as to walk along with T.J. and his father.
The next day, Paul shaves and apparently is out of his depression, realizing the message Hesher was trying to get across. He then shows T.J. the block that was his mother's car, that Hesher had procured from the junkyard and placed in the driveway. Hesher then disappears, with a final act of defiance, vandalizing their roof with "Hesher was here" without them knowing.
, with the consensus stating "It has a dark sense of humor and a refreshing lack of sentimentality, but like its title character, Hesher isn't really interested in going anywhere."
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
praised the film and Gordon-Levitt's performance, stating "So what if Hesher flies off its wobbly handles — it keeps springing funny and touching surprises. The performances are aces. Wilson makes Dad's emergence a subtle marvel. And even when the script edges Gordon-Levitt into Hallmark
sentiment, you can't take your eyes off him." However, other critics, such as Roger Ebert
stated "Hesher assembles a group of characters who aren't sure why they're in the same movie together. One by one, they have an attraction, but brought together, they're all elbows and angles."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Spencer Susser
Spencer Susser
Spencer Susser is an American film director and screenwriter.Susser is the only American member of the Australian filmmaking collective Blue-Tongue Films...
and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
, Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
, and Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
. First screened at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
January 22, 2010, the film was released in the United States on May 13, 2011. Most of the songs on the film's soundtrack are tracks from American heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and British heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Motorhead.
Plot
Following the loss of his mother in a car crash, T.J (Devin Brochu) falls into a state of depression, and social isolation. His pill popping father (Rainn WilsonRainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
) and he are forced to live with T.J.'s elderly absent-minded grandmother (Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
).
After an argument with his father, T.J. goes into a construction project on his way to school, where he crashes his bicycle upon hitting a beam. Angrily, he throws an object into a bay window of a seemingly unoccupied project home and breaks it. This disturbs a squatting resident named Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
), who threatens T.J., but when a cop arrives, Hesher tosses an explosive into the police car and flees. T.J. goes to school where he again encounters Hesher, smoking a cigarette in the school's staircase, before getting beaten and humiliated by Dustin, a schoolyard bully.
After school, Dustin finds his car vandalized (presumably by Hesher) and chases T.J. into the parking lot of a local supermarket. A young woman, grocery clerk Nicole (Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
), jumps into the fight, defending T.J., and gives him a ride home — where, to his surprise, Hesher walks in and makes himself at home. T.J. is disconcerted but unsure what to do about the intrusion; T.J.'s grandmother, however, takes kindly to the young stranger, treating him as a grandson-type figure. Later that night during dinner, grandma Forney remarks she would like T.J. to walk with her, and T.J. responds that he has to attend school. Hesher, irritated by T.J.'s defiance, states in his usual vulgar manner that a walk with his grandmother is more important than school, citing the danger of "granny rapists."
The next day at school, Dustin catches up with T.J. in the boys bathroom, forcing his head into an urinal as he demands that T.J. eat the urinal cake. Hesher appears, watches for a moment, and walks away. Feeling betrayed, T.J. confronts Hesher about doing nothing to defend him, after which Hesher asks T.J. into his van; they go to Dustin's house, and Hesher sets Dustin's car on fire. The next morning, the police arrive to Mrs. Forney's house to bring T.J. in for questioning, but no subsequent charges are filed due to lack of evidence.
The following day, T.J. goes to the supermarket in which Nicole works to observe her, unbeknownst to him, Hesher had followed him there. After Nicole has finished her shift, Hesher and T.J. follow her in Hesher's van, until she hits another vehicle in a rear-end collision. Hesher scares off the other driver by pinning the blame on him, and subsequently offers a ride to Nicole due to her car failing to start. Once in the van, Hesher takes Nicole and T.J. to "his uncle's" house and the three swim. Once there, Hesher acts belligerently, throwing virtually everything into the pool, and using lighter fluid to set the diving board on fire, then jumping off. Shortly afterward, Hesher leaves suddenly, claiming he has a doctors appointment, because "it burns when [he] pees". After T.J. and Nicole realize Hesher lied about it being his uncle's house, they walk back to Nicole's car. Nicole, due to leaving her vehicle parked illegally, subsequently gets a ticket, about which she falls into depression, seemingly because she has a 'dead end' life, a 'dead end' job, and can't afford to pay for her lifestyle.
Once back at the house, Hesher asks about the confrontation, to which T.J. responds negatively, bitter towards Hesher's carefree attitude. He then goes to a junkyard, where the car in which his mother died is in the process of being crushed. It is there that he bumps into the bully Dustin (who works there), and is intimidated and saddened that there is no way to get the vehicle back. Later that night, T.J. and his father get into an argument over dinner, in which Hesher is in the middle, resulting in both smashing their plates to the ground. Grandma subsequently is saddened that there is 'nothing she can do', and goes to her room. Hesher soon goes into her room where they make random conversation and Hesher teaches her how to smoke from a water bong, telling her 'it's much better than cigarettes'. Hesher then promises to go walking with her in the morning. The next morning, Hesher walks in to find she had died.
With the family thrown into an even deeper depression, and Hesher's influence rubbing off on them, Hesher angrily says he needs time to himself, in fear he'll 'hurt someone', and runs off. T.J. then goes to Nicole's apartment in hopes of giving her money to pay for her ticket, but subsequently walks in on Hesher and Nicole having sex. Angered, T.J. beats on Hesher's car, threatens to hit him, calls Nicole a 'fat prostitute', and rides off on his bike
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
. He goes back to the house, and destroys all of Hesher's possessions that are in the garage, and takes a pair of cutting shears. With vengeance in his heart, T.J. goes to Dustin's house, where he threatens to cut off Dustin's toes if he doesn't tell the truth about the car being destroyed. This plan backfires, and Dustin angrily pins T.J. to the ground, unaware that Hesher is outside the sliding door. Hesher then cuts off part of Dustin's nose, and T.J., still bitter at Hesher, runs off, saying he never wants to see him again.
T.J. then goes to the junkyard to sit in his mother's car (now atop many other junked cars) and ends up falling asleep in the back seat. The next morning, the car is picked up and ready to be crushed, when T.J. falls through the windshield. Angry, T.J. watches the car crushed, and walks off bitterly. A few hours later, T.J. and his father attend the funeral of grandma, at which time Hesher (now drunk) makes a vulgar speech that signifies the gift of family, and portrays one bad thing can be made into a good. At the reception, Hesher, with his usual defiance, tells T.J. he promised to walk with her (grandma), and ends up wheeling the casket outside, so as to walk along with T.J. and his father.
The next day, Paul shaves and apparently is out of his depression, realizing the message Hesher was trying to get across. He then shows T.J. the block that was his mother's car, that Hesher had procured from the junkyard and placed in the driveway. Hesher then disappears, with a final act of defiance, vandalizing their roof with "Hesher was here" without them knowing.
Cast
- Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
as Hesher - Rainn WilsonRainn WilsonRainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
as Paul Forney - Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
as Nicole - Devin Brochu as T. J. Forney
- Piper LauriePiper LauriePiper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
as Madeleine Forney - John Carroll LynchJohn Carroll LynchJohn Carroll Lynch is an American actor, known for his role as Drew Carey's cross-dressing brother on The Drew Carey Show, and for his role as Norm, the unassuming husband of Margie Gunderson in Fargo....
as Larry - Audrey WasilewskiAudrey WasilewskiAudrey Wasilewski is an American actress and voice actress.-Life and career:Wasilewski's first role came in the 1994 Japanese animated film Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko, where she was one of the additional voices dubbed in English...
as Coleen Bolder - Brendan Hill as Dustin
- Monica StaggsMonica StaggsMonica Staggs is an American stuntwoman and actress.-Early life:Staggs was born in Boulder, Colorado, the oldest daughter of Thomas Staggs, an architect, and Nova, a teacher. She enjoyed frequent trips to Casa Bonita and developed a lifelong, diehard love for the Denver Broncos...
as Mom
Reception
Hesher received mixed reviews, and currently holds a 55% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with the consensus stating "It has a dark sense of humor and a refreshing lack of sentimentality, but like its title character, Hesher isn't really interested in going anywhere."
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
praised the film and Gordon-Levitt's performance, stating "So what if Hesher flies off its wobbly handles — it keeps springing funny and touching surprises. The performances are aces. Wilson makes Dad's emergence a subtle marvel. And even when the script edges Gordon-Levitt into Hallmark
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
sentiment, you can't take your eyes off him." However, other critics, such as Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
stated "Hesher assembles a group of characters who aren't sure why they're in the same movie together. One by one, they have an attraction, but brought together, they're all elbows and angles."