Hesher Reviews
Hesher, which opens in limited theatres (40 screens) today, has received very mixed reviews wherever it’s played, and now with the official release it seems that hasn’t changed much at all. Below are a few reviews highlighting the good, the bad and the in-between.
– Film Freak Central cough up a very positive 3 and a half stars.
The film culls numerous laughs from a psychopath who’s a comically inappropriate role model, but more than that, it offers a furious refutation of the popular portrayal of the Other as magical restorers of faith. (Similarly, T.J. is so enamoured of faraway crush Nicole (a heartbreaking Natalie Portman)–whose name is barely mentioned in the film–that he’s unable to see her as an adult struggling to get by.)
– Peter Travers is also on board with 3 stars.
As the film’s co-producer, Portman shows a bracing kinship with the indie spirit. So what if Hesher flies off its wobbly handles — it keeps springing funny and touching surprises. The performances are aces. Wilson makes Dad’s emergence a subtle marvel. And even when the script edges Gordon-Levitt into Hallmark sentiment, you can’t take your eyes off him.
And now for the pain…
