Hesher

[Mr. Merrill Lehrl]

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/hesher/

Synopsis:  Hesher is a loner. He hates the world and everyone in it. He has long greasy hair and homemade tattoos. He is malnourished and smokes a lot of cigarettes. He likes fire and blowing things up.
Director:  Spencer Susser
Writers:  Spencer Susser, David Michôd, and Brian Charles Frank.
Stars:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu and Natalie Portman

Spencer Susser is a part of the filmmaking collective Blue-Tongue Films, other members being Nash Edgerton (The Square) and David Michôd (Animal Kingdom):  http://bluetonguefilms.com/

As only alluded to in another thread, among other things I'm a trash culture enthusiast ('trash culture mutant junkie' is fine).  The prospect of a movie wherein Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a Beavis and Butt-Head watching character in a Mary Poppins role really excites, and Gordon-Levitt has some great trash credit already from Mysterious Skin, perversely mainstream credits, and this story I heard.

A friend of mine auditioned for John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus.  The final candidates were called together to watch their audition tapes, and one of the other people who auditioned was Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  I was told his audition tape consisted of him alone in a room, listening to a Janis Joplin song (which song and if it was definitely her I'm not sure) and masturbating, and right when the song climaxes he climaxes.

[squints]

Man, that looks amazing. I love old Metallica so much.

[RegularKarate]

It's not very good at all.  I saw it at SXSW.

I think the trailer definitely makes it look good and there are some funny parts, but in the end, it just doesn't ever hit.  It tries too hard to be quirky and meaningful, but none of the characters seem to know where they're coming from.  They're just acting like characters from other movies.

[Mr. Merrill Lehrl]

Loved its vulgar innocence.  Portman and Wilson's characters are superfluous, part of the bloated dramatics that weaken the movie.  I kept thinking:  this lady is the most recent best actress winner?  You can't tell because the writing is sometimes poor, especially with the minor characters.  The meat is the relationship between the little boy (it's his movie) and the two great characters, Hesher and the grandmother.  Great character though lines with these three.  It's an imperfect movie, and you can see that as grating, or charming, because it's a movie about imperfect people.  I always think those qualities go nicely together.