Some indie films seem to exist as exercises in strangeness, just to see how far they can go-and how long audiences will watch before screaming and running up the aisles. I stuck with Hesher till...

Full Review | Original Score: 1.1/2 | May 13, 2011

Happily, Hesher never lays things out too clearly. Just as you never know where he came from, it's hard to grasp where he's going, or even what he's doing in the moment. But you know he fits somewhere. And that's satisfaction enough.

| Original Score: B | May 13, 2011

Like a knock-off of Chuck Palahniuk produced by people raised only on Sundance films, "Hesher" is a mess.

| Original Score: 1/5 | May 13, 2011

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 13, 2011

Rather than a character rooted in some sort of reality -- social, satirical, psychological, take your pick -- Hesher is an abstract notion animated by false energy.

| May 13, 2011

Bad role models sometimes make the most interesting movie characters.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 13, 2011

Unlike many films that hope to be called black comedy, it does not skimp on either the black or the comedy.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 13, 2011

When the blessed credits finally roll, the first thing Susser shows us is Hesher's tattoo of a raised middle finger. Backatcha, dude.

| Original Score: 1/4 | May 13, 2011

At a future date, when some grad student writes a thesis on 'Wild Men of the Subconscious in Popular Culture,' there will certainly be a special place for 'Hesher.' Just as long as it stays there and is never in front of my eyes again.

| Original Score: 1/5 | May 13, 2011

"Hesher" is about as awful as independent films get, a mix of ugliness and unearned sentiment, with a flat story, repellent and pathetic characters and dialogue that consists of lots of stammering and cursing.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 12, 2011

Susser, who wrote the film with David Michod, has a kinetic filmmaking style and an impish, crash-and-burn sense of humor that keeps sentiment at bay long enough to let us appreciate the loose, uncomplicated performances...

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 12, 2011

Hesher is a muddle of inchoate feelings that never really grasps the clichs to which it raises its middle finger.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 12, 2011

As played by the spectacular Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hesher is the id run rampant. Even when the script edges him into Hallmark sentiment, you can't take your eyes off him.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 12, 2011

A grim little drama that seems to exist in order to give the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman a chance to look extra-scruffy.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 12, 2011

[Gordon-Levitt gives] a fearsome and giddily unhinged performance in a movie that isn't entirely sure what to do with it.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 12, 2011

"Hesher" assembles a group of characters who aren't sure why they're in the same movie together.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 12, 2011

Not even Mr. Gordon-Levitt's unremittingly savage performance can begin to salvage such hokum.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | May 12, 2011

What does he want? Where does he come from? Director Spencer Susser appears too intoxicated by the title character to risk peering beyond the enigmatic surface for fear of losing some of his mystery, as mystery is all Hesher has.

| Original Score: D | May 12, 2011

It's unflinching stuff, and might have worked if there were a reason for any of it. Levitt, Portman and Wilson work hard to infuse the film with some likeability.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 12, 2011

Hesher has its genuinely affecting scenes, but too much of the time it feels false and shallow.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 12, 2011