Everyone's a Winner with Hesher

I wish I had a cool guitar riff play after I say something. There is a scene at the beginning of “Hesher” in which Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) says something to T.J. Forney (Devin Brochu) and after Hesher has spoken, a nice guitar riff is heard. That occurs in the first five minutes of Spencer Susser’s film about a boy of about 14 years who is, in a strange way, befriended by a long-haired stoner guy whose name turns out to be Hesher. We do not know a whole lot about Hesher, and throughout the course of the film, we never learn much of anything about him. That is ok with me because it works. Hesher moves into the house of T.J. and his father, Paul, (Rainn Wilson) without permission. Paul does not put up any resistance. Paul and his son are recovering from the recent loss of his wife and T.J’s mother. Hesher’s presence in their lives acts as a strangely interesting antidote for their issues. Add to this, T.J’s crush on a grocery store cashier named Nicole (Natalie Portman). Though she does not necessarily act as any kind guiding light in T.J’s life, she does add an additional bit of charm to the film.
“Hesher” is one of those cool films in which things just happen randomly, exactly like the narrative structure of most of what I write. In the case of “Hesher,” there appears to be some rationale to the random events that occur. Hesher, though uncouth, vulgar, and of questionable odor, proves to be the person, or maybe the force that T.J. and his father need to fully recover from their loss. Grief counseling sessions do not seem to help a great deal. T.J. is constantly bullied by Dustin (Brendan Hill) a young man who almost reaches the level of vulgarity of which Hesher is quite the master. Hesher eventually helps T.J. get back at Dustin in an unconventional, though fulfulling way. Thankfully, this event is not treated as family film fodder as T.J. is not as happy with Hesher’s handiwork as Hesher is. The structure of “Hesher” is like a series of vignettes which are linear and serve to document the process through which T.J. and his father are able to deal with and accept the situation in which their lives exist. One may debate whether or not Hesher is supposed to be a representation of Christ, a foul-mouthed Christ, but who serves the same purpose---the purpose of guidance through trying times in one’s life. Of course, Hesher may also be just some random guy who shows up in their lives and distracts them from their grief for a while. Who Hesher is is never stated, and I liked that. His purpose in the lives of T.J. and his father, however, is clear.
I liked the film quite a bit with only a few exceptions. About an hour in, something happens in the film which is a bit of a movie cliché. Wow, Microsoft Word just automatically added the tilde over the “e” in cliché! It did it again! I was going to just leave it as is. Sometimes stuff like that just happens…..
Anyway, something happens midway through “Hesher” which is cliché. I wish it had not happened, solely because what happened was a cliché. As well, the ending, though fulfilling, is comprised of a bit too much “end of movie speech-ness.” Those who have seen a lot of movies will likely know what I mean by this. Basically, at the end of the film, one of the main characters shows up to make a speech telling us what the point of the film is and how we should feel. I only say this as a way of defining “end of movie speech-ness.” In “Hesher,” we get this, however, it is not inflicted with this malady too badly and as I mentioned, the overall result of the final twenty minutes of the film is very effective and well done.
All of the performances in “Hesher” are great, especially Levitt, Wilson, Brochu, and Piper Laurie as T.J’s grandmother. “Hesher” is a vulgar feel-good movie. I did not expect to “feel good” at the film’s conclusion, however, the message that director Susser conveys is clear.
I enjoyed the ditty Hesher tells T.J. and Nicole in his van about the four women with whom he once shared……an experience. See this film and you will enjoy this tale as well. Remember, everyone’s a winner.