hesher (2010). directed by spencer susser.

right after watching this movie, i decided to read some reviews about it on the net. some described it as a dark comedy. when i think of dark comedies, something like the royal tenenbaums (2001) comes to mind. this one, hmmm...i find it mostly depressing. humour wise, i am not sure if i should laugh at a grown man watching a child being bullied, is it supposed to contrast with another scene in which a skinny girl tried to defend the child with her small fists and got pushed around for it? may be, because i don't get the humour in that. 

starring joseph gordon-levitt, rainn wilson and natalie portman, the story is about a family paralyzed by loss with the death of wilson's wife from a car accident. he is unable to function as a father to his 13 year old son, constantly sleeping his life away with anti depressants to shield himself from impenetrable pain. the boy is uncared for, bullied at school and kept going back to the junk yard for the car that killed his mother. he met gordon-levitt by chance, who calls himself hesher (a slang term for mulleted miscreants), a homeless person who decided to move in into the boy's house and wreck havoc for...being himself. he's unkept, dirty, listens to loud music like no one is around, talk about sex like it is the weather, burn a car to get back at a bully - hardly a role model to a grieving boy who missed his mom. 

at one point of the movie i thought hesher might be schizophrenic.  

come to think of it, none of the adults in the movie are functional role models. everyone is engrossed with their problems that a new day simply means new problems or extension of old ones. does hesher's arrival into their lives a catalyst for change? personally i find that part staged. he is hardly in control of his life - if doing whatever he wants constitute control and freedom, the real comedy is how the boy and his father is inspired to start living their lives, is a bit beyond me.  

or...may be because hesher is such a loser, people wake up of their dreamless stupor, and think, hell, i don't want to be that guy. ok, may be that's the joke. i get the gist of it, but i think the execution could have been better. it could try to be more interesting in terms of story-telling, i could think of many indie films which are interesting in their own way despite the minimalist style.