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Hesher
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Spencer Susser
Screenplay by	Spencer Susser David Michôd
Story by	Brian Charles Frank
Produced by	Natalie Portman Spencer Susser Morgan Susser Lucy Cooper Johnny Lin Scott Prisand Win Sheridan
Starring	Joseph Gordon-Levitt Rainn Wilson Natalie Portman Devin Brochu
Cinematography	Morgan Susser
Edited by	Michael McCusker Spencer Susser
Music by	Francois Tetaz
Production companies	The Last Picture Company CatchPlay Corner Store Entertainment
Distributed by	Newmarket Films
Release dates	January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) ( Sundance) May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13) (United States)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$7 million [1]
Box office	$382,946 [1]

Hesher is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by Spencer Susser and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman. First screened at the Sundance Film Festival January 22, 2010, the film was released in the United States on May 13, 2011.

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (WHO GIVES A FUCK HOW FUCKING LONG IT IS, DO YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN YOUR BORING FUCKING LIVES OTHER TO FUCKING MESS WITH TINY SCRAPS OF WRITING ONLINE YOU BORING PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT. YOU KNOW WHAT'S EXCESSIVELY DETAILED? NOT YOUR FUCKING LIFE, THAT'S FOR SURE, IF ALL YOU CAN DO IS THINK OF MORE FUCKING WAYS TO MAKE EVERYTHING MORE FUCKING CONCISE AND TRIM TRIM TRIM. THAT'S ALL YOU FUCKERS DO, TRIM TRIM TRIM. LOOK FOR WAYS TO CLEAN UP THE WORLD, PAT YOURSELF ON THE FUCKING BACK. LOOK AT THIS, YOU EVEN HAVE A FUCKING TEMPLATE, HOW FUCKING CUTE. DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING BEGIN TO WONDER, TO WONDER HOW TO WONDER WHY FUCKERS LIKE YOU EXIST? ALL YOU SEE IS NOTHING BUT THE END OF THE FUCKING TUNNEL AND WHAT LIES AT THAT END IS YOUR FUCKING NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS AND STUPID FUCKING FAILURE OF A SELF. TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE FUCKING MIRROR. YOU ARE FUCKING STUPID. YOU ARE FUCKING UGLY. YOU ARE UGLY IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. STOP TRYING TO FUCKING FIX THINGS.) ( Learn how and when to remove this message)

[[Category:Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from WHO GIVES A FUCK HOW FUCKING LONG IT IS, DO YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN YOUR BORING FUCKING LIVES OTHER TO FUCKING MESS WITH TINY SCRAPS OF WRITING ONLINE YOU BORING PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT. YOU KNOW WHAT'S EXCESSIVELY DETAILED? NOT YOUR FUCKING LIFE, THAT'S FOR SURE, IF ALL YOU CAN DO IS THINK OF MORE FUCKING WAYS TO MAKE EVERYTHING MORE FUCKING CONCISE AND TRIM TRIM TRIM. THAT'S ALL YOU FUCKERS DO, TRIM TRIM TRIM. LOOK FOR WAYS TO CLEAN UP THE WORLD, PAT YOURSELF ON THE FUCKING BACK. LOOK AT THIS, YOU EVEN HAVE A FUCKING TEMPLATE, HOW FUCKING CUTE. DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING BEGIN TO WONDER, TO WONDER HOW TO WONDER WHY FUCKERS LIKE YOU EXIST? ALL YOU SEE IS NOTHING BUT THE END OF THE FUCKING TUNNEL AND WHAT LIES AT THAT END IS YOUR FUCKING NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS AND STUPID FUCKING FAILURE OF A SELF. TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE FUCKING MIRROR. YOU ARE FUCKING STUPID. YOU ARE FUCKING UGLY. YOU ARE UGLY IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. STOP TRYING TO FUCKING FIX THINGS.]]

Following the loss of his mother in a car crash, T.J. ( Devin Brochu) falls into a state of depression, and social isolation. His pill popping father ( Rainn Wilson) and he are forced to live with T.J.'s elderly absent-minded grandmother ( Piper Laurie).

After an argument with his father, T.J. goes into a construction project on his way to school, where he crashes his bicycle upon hitting a beam. Angrily, he throws an object into a bay window of a seemingly unoccupied project home and breaks it. This disturbs a squatting resident named Hesher ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who threatens T.J., but when the a cop arrives, Hesher tosses an explosive into the police car and flees. T.J. goes to school where he again encounters Hesher, smoking a cigarette in the school's staircase, before getting beaten and humiliated by Dustin, a schoolyard bully.

After school, Dustin finds his car vandalized (presumably by Hesher) and chases T.J. into the parking lot of a local supermarket. A young woman, grocery clerk Nicole ( Natalie Portman), jumps into the fight, defending T.J., and gives him a ride home -- where, to his surprise, Hesher walks in and makes himself at home. T.J. is disconcerted but unsure what to do about the intrusion; T.J.'s grandmother, however, takes kindly to the young stranger, treating him as a grandson-type figure. Later that night during dinner, grandma Forney remarks she would like T.J. to walk with her, and T.J. responds that he has to attend school. Hesher, irritated by T.J.'s defiance, states in his usual vulgar manner that a walk with his grandmother is more important than school, citing the danger of "granny rapists."

The next day at school, Dustin catches up with T.J. in the boys bathroom, forcing his head into urinal as he demands that T.J. eat the urinal cake. Hesher appears, watches for a moment, and walks away. Feeling betrayed, T.J. confronts Hesher about doing nothing to defend him, after which Hesher asks T.J. into his van; they go to Dustin's house, and Hesher sets Dustin's car on fire. The next morning, the police arrive to Mrs. Forney's house to bring T.J. in for questioning, but no subsequent charges are filed due to lack of evidence.

The following day, T.J. goes to the supermarket in which Nicole works to observe her, unbeknownst to him, Hesher had followed him there. After Nicole has finished her shift, Hesher and T.J. follow her in Hesher's van, until she hits another vehicle in a rear-end collision. Hesher scares off the other driver by pinning the blame on him, and subsequently offers a ride to Nicole due to her car failing to start. Once in the van, Hesher takes Nicole and T.J. to "his uncle's" house and the three swim. Once there, Hesher acts belligerently, throwing virtually everything into the pool, and using lighter fluid to set the diving board on fire, then jumping off. Shortly afterward, Hesher leaves suddenly, claiming he has a doctors appointment, because "it burns when [he] pees". After T.J. and Nicole realize Hesher lied about it being his uncle's house, they walk back to Nicole's car. Nicole, due to leaving her vehicle parked illegally, subsequently gets a ticket, about which she falls into depression, seemingly because she has a 'dead end' life, a 'dead end' job, and can't afford to pay for her lifestyle.

Once back at the house, Hesher asks about the confrontation, to which T.J. responds negatively, bitter towards Hesher's carefree attitude. He then goes to a junkyard, where the car in which his mother died is in the process of being crushed. It is there that he bumps into the bully Dustin (who works there), and is intimidated and saddened that there is no way to get the vehicle back. Later that night, T.J. and his father get into an argument over dinner, in which Hesher is in the middle, resulting in both smashing their plates to the ground. Grandma subsequently is saddened that there is 'nothing she can do', and goes to her room. Hesher soon goes into her room where they make random conversation and Hesher teaches her how to smoke from a water bong, telling her 'it's much better than cigarettes'. Hesher then promises to go walking with her in the morning. The next morning, Hesher walks in to find she had died.

With the family thrown into an even deeper depression, and Hesher's influence rubbing off on them, Hesher angrily says he needs time to himself, in fear he'll 'hurt someone', and runs off. T.J. then goes to Nicole's apartment in hopes of giving her money to pay for her ticket, but subsequently walks in on Hesher and Nicole having sex. Angered, T.J. beats on Hesher's car, threatens to hit him, calls Nicole a 'fat prostitute', and rides off on his bike. He goes back to the house, and destroys all of Hesher's possessions that are in the garage, and takes a pair of cutting shears. With vengeance in his heart, T.J. goes to Dustin's house, where he threatens to cut off Dustin's toes if he doesn't tell the truth about the car being destroyed. This plan backfires, and Dustin angrily pins T.J. to the ground, unaware that Hesher is outside the sliding door. Hesher then cuts off part of Dustin's nose, and T.J., still bitter at Hesher, runs off, saying he never wants to see him again.

T.J. then goes to the junkyard to sit in his mother's car (now atop many other junked cars) and ends up falling asleep in the back seat. The next morning, the car is picked up and ready to be crushed, when T.J. falls through the windshield. Angry, T.J. watches the car crushed, and walks off bitterly. A few hours later, T.J. and his father attend the funeral of grandma, at which time Hesher (now drunk) makes a vulgar speech that signifies God's gift of family, and portrays one bad thing can be made into a good. At the reception, Hesher, with his usual defiance, tells T.J. he promised to walk with her (grandma), and ends up wheeling the casket outside, so as to walk along with T.J. and his father.

The next day, Paul shaves and apparently is out of his depression, realizing the message Hesher was trying to get across. He then shows T.J. the block that was his mother's car, that Hesher had procured from the junkyard and placed in the driveway. Hesher then disappears, with a final act of defiance, vandalizing the roof to say "Hesher was here."

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Hesher
• Rainn Wilson as Paul Forney
• Natalie Portman as Nicole
• Devin Brochu as T. J. Forney
• Piper Laurie as Madeleine Forney
• John Carroll Lynch as Larry
• Audrey Wasilewski as Coleen Bolder
• Brendan Hill as Dustin
• Monica Staggs as Mom

Hesher received mixed reviews, and currently holds a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating "It has a dark sense of humor and a refreshing lack of sentimentality, but like its title character, Hesher isn't really interested in going anywhere." ^[2]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised the film and Gordon-Levitt's performance, stating "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." However, other critics, such as Roger Ebert stated "Hesher assembles a group of characters who aren't sure why they're in the same movie together. One by one, they have an attraction, but brought together, they're all elbows and angles."

• Official website
• Hesher at IMDb
• Hesher at AllMovie
• Hesher at Box Office Mojo
• Hesher at Rotten Tomatoes