Watch The Trailer For 'Hesher' And Be As Confused As I Am

T.J. Forney (Devin Brochu) is a kid living with his depressed dad Paul (Rainn Wilson) and grandmother Madeline (Piper Laurie). One day he runs into Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) squatting in a model home, so Hesher comes to stay with the Forneys instead.

Hesher is immediately a volatile character. His entrance is totally silent and you know exactly who he is from his look, his walk and his attitude before he even says one line. He’s not the charming “real world” mentor. He’s the real real-world crashing into T.J.’s life.

The story is about forcing T.J. to deal with an adult world. Hesher won’t stop a bully from beating T.J. up, but he’ll vandalize the bully’s car and leave T.J. hanging at the crime scene. Hesher stands up for T.J.’s friend Nicole (Natalie Portman) when she rear ends a mean driver, but she’s actually in the wrong. I don’t think the film tries to give Hesher a moral code and that’s why it works. It’s just there for T.J. to deal with.

But it gets harder Paul drags T.J. along to a support group where he has to hear really serious mourners talk about their dead daughter. That’s way too intense for a kid, but that’s reality. The film never coddles T.J. Adults won’t help him. He’s in mortal danger with major fire and explosive stunts. Hesher encourages T.J. to spend more time with his grandma, in the most vulgar way possible.

The great part about the movie is that writer/director Spencer Susser never explains where Hesher came from. He’s just there to be part of the Forney’s life and be mysterious. They do explain what happened to T.J.’s mom/Paul’s wife but it’s effective as backstory flashbacks go.

Susser never glorifies Hesher either. He only documents him. That’s why it’s fun to see this totally destructive character. It’s not some smug statement about shaking up social rules. It’s just guys like Hesher exist and right or wrong, you’ve got to face them. Of course, to watch Gordon-Levitt give a Nicolas Cage-worthy performance is worth watching the movie on its own.

Anyway, this trailer has definitely done its job, because I’m very interested in seeing this, now. If you don’t feel the same way after watching, I don’t know what to say to you.

“The story centers on a grieving father and son (Wilson and newcomer Devin Brochu) who are helped on their journey by a young grocery clerk (Portman) who inadvertently becomes the object of the boy’s fantasies and the titular, mentoring/tormenting anarchist Hesher (Gordon-Levitt)”

Sounds good, but the movie’s been getting mixed reviews, with many viewers being thrown by the fact that rather than being a straight-up comedy, it’s “a twisted tale with dark comic elements.” “Twisted”? “Dark comic elements”? Cower in fear, middle America! (via The Playlist)

“I really love the way #Hesher turned out, and that hi-jacked ‘trailer’ totally misrepresents the movie.”

Uh, so the movie isn’t about a crazy burnout who runs a kid over with his van and sets stuff on fire? Cause I was suddenly getting interested. The movie also stars Rainn Wilson “The Office“) and a frumpalicious Natalie Portman, looking like Tiny Fey on”30 Rock” whenever they flash back to her early years.

You can see the unofficial trailer up top, which has been condemned by Levitt, Wilson, and the film’s director Spencer Susser. It was apparently made by a foreign marketers. Well, it may not be an official trailer, but it makes the movie look ridiculously kickass. So… stop whining and make it official?

Here’s the plot summary from the Hesher website, which I assume is official, but I guess now we don’t know:

Loud music. Pornography. Burning shit to the ground. These are a few of Hesher’s favorite things. And they are what Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) brings into the lives of TJ (Devin Brochu) and his father Paul (Rainn Wilson) when he takes up residence in their garage uninvited.

Grief-stricken by the loss of TJ’s mother in a car accident, Paul can’t muster the strength to evict the strange squatter and soon the long-haired, tattooed Hesher becomes a fixture in the household. Like a force of nature, Hesher’s anarchy shakes the family out of their grief and helps them embrace life once more.

Hesher stays in theaters, uninvited, starting this April, and crashes SXSW in March. (/Film, Movieline)