Hesher - The Rebel - DVD

Film: 13-year-old T.J. (Devin Brochu) is desperate: his father (Rainn Wilson) has sold the car in which his mother was killed in an accident. For T.J., this has severed the last link to his late mother. Therefore, he wants to get the car back at any cost. But when that proves impossible, T.J.'s anger and despair finally erupts. When he breaks the windows of a run-down house, the police become aware of its illegal owner Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). And since the latter now blames T.J. for losing his place to stay, he unceremoniously moves in with the boy, his father and grandmother (Piper Laurie). Although Hesher doesn't seem to give a damn about his fellow man, the slob quickly becomes a real idol to T.J.. But when the boy falls for notoriously broke-down supermarket cashier Nicole (Natalie Portman) and he confesses these feelings to Hesher, T.J. is forced to realize that the metal freak may not deserve his admiration after all.

With Hesher, Spencer Susser makes an impressive directorial debut in many ways. He's managed to create an engaging blend of outsider drama and bitter comedy that's at times extremely funny, at other times touching, at times coming across as loud and harsh, at other times quiet and fragile. This mixture doesn't always work and especially in the emotional moments Susser rarely hits the right note. But even if the film threatens to fail in such moments because of its own ambitions, the strong acting of the actors always pulls the rudder back. Especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt leaves a lasting impression as the dirty anti-hero. But Devin Brochu, who plays the actual lead, and a charmingly restrained Natalie Portman also fit perfectly into the story about unusual friendships.

The film can be accused that the unconventional and the coolness of the production sometimes feels too forced. The fact that the whole thing still lacks the coherent narrative flow, which would have made a good independent film a lasting work, then also clouds the overall impression a little. Nevertheless, this remains largely positive until the somewhat too thickly applied ending. Because despite its weaknesses, Hesher bristles with good moments that not only showcase the talent in front of the camera, but also that of the director.

If you like your humor a little blacker, if you appreciate quirky characters in quirky moments, and if you don't mind a slightly unbalanced mix of drama and comedy at times, you should definitely give this crowd-pleaser of various festivals a look. It's worth it for the fact alone that it once again highlights just how good and versatile Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Dark Knight Rises, Looper, Brick) is as an actor.

One more tip: if you're fluent in English, you should definitely watch the original English version. Because the German dubbing has turned out a bit flat in places, whereby especially the dialogues lose a lot of wit.

Picture + Sound: Image and sound quality of the DVD are consistently on a good level, without leaving a particularly outstanding impression. The colour scheme is atmospherically appropriate to the story, which comes across well on the DVD. The sharpness of detail reveals slight weak points in darker scenes, but can also convince overall due to the decent contrast tuning. The sound is primarily dominated by the dialogue and the heavy soundtrack from bands like Metallica and Motörhead. Here, especially the bass and some decent surround effects provide movement in the tonal events. Good.

Extras: The DVD has just under 50 minutes of bonus material to offer. It starts with a look behind the scenes, which is unfortunately a bit short with about 7 minutes. Much longer, on the other hand, are the outtakes, which in 27 minutes have some amusing, but also quite a few rather boring moments to offer. In addition, there are some dropped scenes (approx. 6 min.), as well as a short look at how often the shooting had to be interrupted on one of the production days due to aircraft noise (approx. 2 min.). And then there's a bonus for fans of slightly more infantile humor. In a so-called fart reel, some scenes from the film were accompanied by fart noises. A picture gallery, teaser and trailer for the film as well as program tips from the provider round off the additional package.

Conclusion: Hesher is a dark mix of wry comedy and bleak drama that thrives especially on the strong performances of its cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows himself here once from a completely different side, but can convince all along the line. And also his co-stars leave a positive impression in a drama whose individual parts don't always want to fit together completely, but which can be warmly recommended to all lovers of American arthouse cinema of the special kind despite its somewhat too high ambitions

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp