Hesher

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Works for me.

I would relate this film in the same way I do Visitor Q, in that it's a very basic Mary Poppins archetype of a stranger works their way into a family's life and helps sort out their issues. Of course the subject matter and tone a completely different but that spine is there.

Once you get a handle on the tone, it's very funny. At least the first few acts are. There's an undercurrent of sad melancholy that threatens to overwhelm and almost does at the end but I think they get away with it. I was worried by the inclusion of the ol' impromptu hopeful speech at the end of the movie to sort everything out but Hesher being the delightful character he is just ends up talking about his testicles at an old lady's funeral, a perfect spoonful of sugar to make the resolution go down.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is always good to watch and he's got a great character to play with here. Piper Laurie still making films excites me to no end. No matter how frizzy her hair, no matter how big her glasses and no matter what kind of shitty job Natalie Portman's character works as, she still looks stunning. Rainn Wilson plays a shattered man so well and he can be heartbreaking. Devin Brochu as the young kid is the stand out though. He's really great. I didn't pick him as the same kid in Rubber and a few other things, but he carries the movie effortlessly.

I didn't know a bunch of Aussie dudes wrote and made this. Good for them. I was hoping for a cinema release here, sadly that wasn't to be, but I'm glad I finally got to see this one, it was very enjoyable.