Review of Hesher (2010) by Dave J — 01 Jul 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013.

(2011) Hesher.

DRAMA.

The title character "Hesher" co-written and directed by Spencer Susser based the character's behavior on the late heavy metal band "Metallica" bassist Cliff Burton, who died when the band's tour bus crashed in Sweden in 1986, similar to how Johnny Depp based his character on "The Rolling Stones" bass guitarist Keith Richards while starring on the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movies.

The set-up has a widowed father Paul (Rainn Wilson) raising his 13 year old boy T.J. played by Devin Brochu who they're still grieving after losing the mother from a car accident. While T.J.'s trying to retrieve the vehicle where she was killed, he ends up meeting a tattooed shirtles Hesher (Joseph Levitt Johnson) instead by accident, as a result of smashing a rock and breaking one of the windows of a building complex where Hesher happened to be squatting until security chased him away. Hesher then stalks T.J. to his school up until he finds out where he lives so that he could squat at his house which is really his grandmother's house, and at this point both son and father are still grieving, and Hesher gets to live in their easy-going grandmother's house rent free. At this point no one bothers calling the police since even though Hesher's a bum who has no job he still manages to always have money whenever he needs it either for grass or for gasoline to maintain his van, and that he's really a righteous kind of guy even though he doesn't mind lying, assaulting and cursing on front of people. And because Hesher imposed on this family's household at their most worst time is when his father is helpless and so forth, who also does nothing but slouches on a sofa watching TV that is the reason why he allows Hesher do whatever he wants which also includes smoking and cursing, vandalizing including burning someone's car but not much of a drinker though- 'oh gee, I wonder why' I guess they forgot to address this or left that part out too'. Hesher doesn't really have any useful purpose throughout the entire film except sometime toward the end which is idiotically stupid since the real message here is that as a result of his extremely bad behaviour, he really has a good heart and could teach this grieving family something about life since they have no courage to speak up for themselves. This kind of message is like an adult taking lessons from someone acting like an 8 year old child, so why is this one of life's lesson, it's because it's really not- it's just adapted to make it look that way.

What this film maker is doing is that he's adapting many of it's silly situations around Hesher's rowdy convenience since in real life this would never happen. Hesher looks and acts like a loser and seems to have money whenever he needs it but is always there whenever he needs it all the time to fill up his truck with gas and so forth nor has he ever been charged for any type of crime or questioned about it, like when he threw a cigarette burning a convertible with gasoline poured all over it which the only person suspected to have done this was 13 year old T.J.- not Hesher which the film refuses to address making the film less credible. It is situations such as this and more which makes me think that this film is only for the simple minded since the whole environment has been compromised restrained /contained and controlled which is condoning Heshers uncouth unattractive lifestyle as a whole rather than saying that theirs something wrong with it, and that to me is baffling.

1 out of 4 stars.