After a tragedy, a young boy, T.J. (Devin Brochu), and his disengaged father (Rainn Wilson) find themselves living with T.J.’s grandmother (Piper Laurie). Though he meets a kind woman (Natalie Portman) whom he begins to crush on, T.J. also meets a sullen and strange young man Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who begins to take over the house, forcing T.J. and his father to come to terms with their own dark pasts.

Hesher seems like it should be great. I wanted to like this movie, as there are few actors working today that I admire more than Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman. Even the premise sounded good: eccentric young man comes in to shake up a grieving family. But the film mistakes violence, aggression, and disrespect for humor, taking unlikable characters and giving you very little to like about them. The story is more upsetting than fulfilling, and while we are supposed to laugh at the antics of Hesher and his disorderly and aggressive way of bringing a family back to life, none of Hesher’s actions feel motivated by anything other than psychosis. At about 100 minutes long, the film feels interminable.

I’d love to see a little more range out of Rainn Wilson someday soon, as here he is a sad and disengaged father who is failing his own son as he wallows in his own grief. Yawn. Natalie Portman is cute but fairly predictable as a vaguely sassy but amiable grocery clerk, though seeing her in big chunky sweaters and enormous glasses was almost worth the price of admission. Fans of Twin Peaks will be delighted to see Piper Laurie ambling about as the slightly senile but still sweet grandmother. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, one of the most nuanced and capable actors of our generation, manages to be boring as a wholly unlikable, one-note character. The actors are only as capable as the script, however, and first-time feature writer and director Spencer Susser hasn’t given anybody enough to work with. Hesher in particular is mysteriously without scope, without imagination, dedicated to driving his van around, stealing, destroying, and blowing things up.

The best that can be asked of Hesher as a film, is “why?” Why this story, why is this film so important that it should be seen by everyone, or even anyone?  It doesn’t make the situations in the film palatable or intriguing, it doesn’t even attempt to make most of the characters sympathetic or interesting. Fans of heavy rock music will love the soundtrack, which features a great deal of Metallica, but other than a fantastic soundtrack, Hesher offers very little else in the way of audio-visual delights. The film is shot very simply, and yes, it was a small, low-budget independent film, but it’s nice to see something that surprises or is at least baseline interesting to look at. With a story as difficult to enjoy as this one, you have to give a little bit more in every other way.  Hesher expects you to get it, or get out of the way.

Hesher is boring, unimaginative, and predictable. Though it pains me to say it, there are many ways to spend 10 dollars these days, and going to Hesher is a particularly poor one.

Grade: C