Hesher is grungy film success

The movie Hesher, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman, tells the story of a family who lose their loving wife and mother, and are now trying to cope with their emotions. Gordon-Levitt plays Hesher,  an obscene metal head, who comes in the  family's life and unexpectedly, for better or for worse, rocks their world.  

Gordon-Levitt breaks out in the role of Hesher, really doing the dead-beat, malnourished, chain-smoking character some hard-core justice, so much so that Hesher himself would be proud. The character is the exact opposite of roles you would expect Gordon-Levitt to play. He's typically seen in more fluffy supporting roles in movies such as 500 Days of Summer and 10 Things I Hate About You. However, in the past two years, Gordon-Levitt is starting to come into his own, with a leading role in 2010's big name action movie Inception, and now Hesher.

Director Spencer Susser said that it was hard to cast Hesher, because he didn't want a big name actor who audience members would easily identify with. However, when he watched Gordon-Levitt audition, he saw potential.

"Hesher represents a lot of things. He's a complicated person. He's got a troubled past, and he put up these walls to protect himself. He decided he didn't want friends, didn't want a family, because he doesn't want to get hurt," said Susser. "When I got into the room with Joe, I saw that he was an amazing actor and thought that we could pull it off with him."

Other notable actors include Wilson, who gets to the heart of the matter playing the father, mourning the loss of his beloved wife. Wilson's serious personification is a break away from the stereotypical comedic characters he usually plays, like his most-known television character,  Dwight K. Schrute, on the NBC series, The Office.

Up-and-comer Devin Brochu, a thirteen-year-old boy who plays the son, T.J., was a character Susser was also worried about casting. He said that it was tricky and wondered where he could "find a thirteen year old boy to carry the film?" However, when he saw Brochu tap into his emotions, Susser knew he had found his T.J..

"I feel that with almost all of the scenes that include Devin in the film are real. He's not pretending. He's just feeling with his emotions," said Susser. "That's the thing that's so great about child actors. Not all of them can do it, but a lot of them can access their emotions in that form."

According to Susser, it was important to make Hesher, a hard core early day Cliff Burton Metallica fan, as well as a representation of life and death.

"You start the movie with death. Here's this terrible, scary thing that shows up at this family's door, moves in, and there's nothing they can do about it," said Susser. "He also represents life and living life to the fullest, and he points out some very obvious concepts that we all know but take for granted."

Whichever character the audience identifies with -  the sweet grocer Nicole, the father Paul Forney who must figure out how raise a family, the son T.J. Forney looking for a beacon of hope, or the slightly-off, eccentric Hesher - one thing's for certain, go see this film. It's funny, it's real, and it makes people think about life in ways that other movies don't. On steroids.