Movie Review: HESHER (2010) – Joseph Gordon-Levitt Is So Metal!

I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an awesome actor. I thought so back in his younger days from the NBC TV show he did, known as 3^RD ROCK FROM THE SUN. Obviously these days he’s become a big shot with movies like 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, INCEPTION and the upcoming THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. But I always knew this kid would make it big. Another movie that he did recently which was pretty small in comparison to the others, was HESHER.

Rating: 3 Out 5 Stars

It’s not the typical offbeat film where the foul mouthed bad ass makes life better for the sad unhappy people seen in the beginning. Hesher is unapologetic, rough and has a fuck all attitude. He doesn’t care for anyone, and may even be a little mentally disturbed. He shows no sympathy for the kid going through this traumatic experience, including at one point even running him down with his car, slightly.

But the best thing about HESHER is that, there’s a fuckin pre-teen getting run over by a guy he’s got squatting at his house! As unintended as it may have been, it was fucking hilarious as hell!

JGL’s portrayal of Hesher is just awesome. Up until the last scene, the character seems to have no purpose in the film, except for horribly curse word filled monologues that are there for pure shock value. And it works. I laughed my ass off, despite the over all serious and sad tone of the film.

The way Hesher’s carefree attitude impacts the family is very subtle and not at all cliché. His analogies that become life lessons are so crude, that the moral gets lost at first glance, but works amazingly.

words of wisdom… shared over a nice family dinner

I mean he lectures the kid to go on walks with his old grandmother, otherwise she might get raped, ‘cuz ‘there’s some sick fucks out there’. Awesome. He sets on fire the car of an older kid that was bullying TJ. He even slaps around TJ himself sometimes.

Natalie Portman is in this as a girl who’s the object of the boy’s affections, and gets involved in his life as a friend. The rest of the cast is pretty amazing, in unsuspecting ways. The always funny Rainn Wilson does a very toned down role of a clinically depressed father that can’t deal with life after his wife’s death. It’s a very refreshing role to see him in, and hopefully he keeps at it… while not foregoing the comedy by any means.

HESHER is incredibly slow at times, and the saving grace is JGL. His character shows up out of nowhere and just ejaculates the most profane and inappropriate things you could ever hear uttered, and it works… brilliantly.

It’s a beautiful film at the end of the day and how this devastated family’s life is impacted by this crazy ass motherfucker is really what HESHER becomes.

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