Hesher

I end Natalie Portman 2011 week with Hesher, which is basically a retelling of Mary Poppins, except instead of an English nanny, Mary is a sociopathic metalhead drifter.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, one of my favorite actors, is the title role, and he goes to town, relishing the chance to play against type. Hesher (who goes by only one name) has no real backstory, which lends him a kind of magic persona. He does have some vivid tattoos, including a giant fist flipping the bird on his back.

The other major character is a boy played by Devin Brochu. His mother has recently died in a car accident, and the family is wallowing in grief. His father, Rainn Wilson, can barely get off the coach. His kindly grandmother (Piper Laurie, whom I didn't recognize) has cancer. Brochu is full of anger, and after his dad sells the totaled car in which his mother died, he is determined to get it back.

He accidentally finds Hesher living in an abandoned house. After inadvertently alerting the police to Hesher's presence there, the long-haired imp of the perverse moves in with Brochu's family. Wilson is so numb with depression that he says nothing in objection to this, which gnawed at me as a real plot problem.

Of course, even though Hesher commits wanton acts of violence and destruction, he teaches the family lessons on how to move on with their lives. Though the script, written by Spencer Susser, who also directs, is not sentimental, it was still straining at the joints trying to make these points. A speech by Hesher at the end of the film, comparing the death of a loved one to a missing testicle, is a jaw-dropper, and not in a good way.

Portman shows up as a mousy cashier who rescues Brochu from a bully. He develops a crush on her, and the two become good friends as they both are down on their luck. Portman was an executive producer of the film, which certainly accounts for her presence, but there's no way someone who looks like her is going to be that pathetic. She can't play homely and alone. Nice try, but no.

Hesher has it's interesting moments, and I can recommend it on certain levels. Gordon-Levitt is a hoot, and though for much of the film felt like a suicide note, it has dark humor that I responded to. As a kid who experienced some bullying, I've always liked characters who were sort of protectors of the meek, whether they be the robot from Lost in Space, Adam Baldwin in My Bodyguard, and now Hesher.