This movie screened at Helsinki International Film Festival '11 and I chose this for the obvious reasons of very strong cast, it features Metallica soundtrack and looked like a nice independent production by a director I had never heard of.
The movie is about a boy whose life is not very happy at the moment and a metalhead "Hesher" enters his life and makes it even more complicated.
The movie is very very grim and sad, don't be fooled by the trailer that this is a comedy, even tho there are occasional moments of laughter which are mostly triggered by Heshers (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) actions. The trailer really does not tell the whole truth and is a bit misleading.
I don't know if it is because of the trailer, but for the first 15-20 minutes or so I wasn't sure if this is gonna be the worst movie I've seen in a while, or a future cult classic. There was something in the movie that just did not work. For some reason I just felt uncomfortable watching it (the fact that the director was sitting in the audience didn't help the feeling..).
What I figure didn't work for me is that I really didn't know at times if this was supposed to be a comedy or not. It's very off balance here and there. There are scenes which are actually pretty dramatic, but are still spiced with comedic elements. One particular scene comes to mind where the boy is ran over and hurt by Hesher's van and he ends up kicking Hesher in the balls. The audience burst into laughter and I think most were just waiting to laugh at Heshers "Beavis and Butthead" style manners, but they were not given the chance because of all the drama. Even this scene really was not funny, but most laughed because a kick in the balls usually is a comedic element (As a side note, if Hesher was so concerned about his nuts, he would not have laughed after the kick..). This kind of balancing between drama and "comedy" goes thru the whole movie, which makes it a very strange viewing experience.
I'm still not sure if Gorden-Levitt pulled the role or not. I really like him as an actor, but in this role, I'm not sure. There are scenes where he truly shines (think of the pool scene and the conversation with granny), but for some reason I kept seeing someone else in his boots all the time and felt the character was somehow uneven. I understood they had a very strict script and this may show as unnatural acting. There are many scenes of "uncomfortable silences". This is a bit of a surprise, as with the directors background of editing some scenes could've been helped with tighter editing. There is a similar situation with the boy, who is on the screen in pretty much every scene. He is a very capable actor, but there are scenes in which I think he was a bit lost, but luckily they are not very many.
Portman pulls of a nice small role, but the best of the cast are Rainn Wilson as the dad and Piper Laurie as the granny. I feel they nail their performances. Rainn Wilson is a really a very capable actor for pulling a dramatic role after seeing him in US version of The Office.
After all the gripe, I have to stay I still enjoyed the movie very much for it's something I've never seen before, it's very original and keeps you interested. Some scenes with Hesher are very delicious to watch.
Also, as I said earlier we had the director present in the screening and afterwards having him tell about the movie and answer some questions. It was a real pleasure hearing the thoughts behind the movie, as they really made a lot of sense and made me think of the movie differently. The movie is pretty multi-layered and you could find a lot of double meanings and symbolism. He said that Hesher might even be seen as "death" visiting the family. A totally uncontrollable element you just have to learn to live with.
Visually the film is very good looking, it's very well thought of with a lot of care taken with the details. The director said he didn't want to place the movie in any certain timeframe, but that it could rather happen anytime between 70s to end of 90s, you won't see any mobile phones or computers on screen which is really refreshing. The visuals resemble 70s/80s with washed colors, wooden panels, clothing and hair.
I recommend this movie, it really is worth viewing, but don't expect a Beavis & Butthead style comedy, but rather a pretty deep drama about a family in grief. There won't be THAT much Metallica either, altho you could look for "references" to the bands early years..
I will be looking forward to Mr Sussers next movie.
The movie is about a boy whose life is not very happy at the moment and a metalhead "Hesher" enters his life and makes it even more complicated.
The movie is very very grim and sad, don't be fooled by the trailer that this is a comedy, even tho there are occasional moments of laughter which are mostly triggered by Heshers (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) actions. The trailer really does not tell the whole truth and is a bit misleading.
I don't know if it is because of the trailer, but for the first 15-20 minutes or so I wasn't sure if this is gonna be the worst movie I've seen in a while, or a future cult classic. There was something in the movie that just did not work. For some reason I just felt uncomfortable watching it (the fact that the director was sitting in the audience didn't help the feeling..).
What I figure didn't work for me is that I really didn't know at times if this was supposed to be a comedy or not. It's very off balance here and there. There are scenes which are actually pretty dramatic, but are still spiced with comedic elements. One particular scene comes to mind where the boy is ran over and hurt by Hesher's van and he ends up kicking Hesher in the balls. The audience burst into laughter and I think most were just waiting to laugh at Heshers "Beavis and Butthead" style manners, but they were not given the chance because of all the drama. Even this scene really was not funny, but most laughed because a kick in the balls usually is a comedic element (As a side note, if Hesher was so concerned about his nuts, he would not have laughed after the kick..). This kind of balancing between drama and "comedy" goes thru the whole movie, which makes it a very strange viewing experience.
I'm still not sure if Gorden-Levitt pulled the role or not. I really like him as an actor, but in this role, I'm not sure. There are scenes where he truly shines (think of the pool scene and the conversation with granny), but for some reason I kept seeing someone else in his boots all the time and felt the character was somehow uneven. I understood they had a very strict script and this may show as unnatural acting. There are many scenes of "uncomfortable silences". This is a bit of a surprise, as with the directors background of editing some scenes could've been helped with tighter editing. There is a similar situation with the boy, who is on the screen in pretty much every scene. He is a very capable actor, but there are scenes in which I think he was a bit lost, but luckily they are not very many.
Portman pulls of a nice small role, but the best of the cast are Rainn Wilson as the dad and Piper Laurie as the granny. I feel they nail their performances. Rainn Wilson is a really a very capable actor for pulling a dramatic role after seeing him in US version of The Office.
After all the gripe, I have to stay I still enjoyed the movie very much for it's something I've never seen before, it's very original and keeps you interested. Some scenes with Hesher are very delicious to watch.
Also, as I said earlier we had the director present in the screening and afterwards having him tell about the movie and answer some questions. It was a real pleasure hearing the thoughts behind the movie, as they really made a lot of sense and made me think of the movie differently. The movie is pretty multi-layered and you could find a lot of double meanings and symbolism. He said that Hesher might even be seen as "death" visiting the family. A totally uncontrollable element you just have to learn to live with.
Visually the film is very good looking, it's very well thought of with a lot of care taken with the details. The director said he didn't want to place the movie in any certain timeframe, but that it could rather happen anytime between 70s to end of 90s, you won't see any mobile phones or computers on screen which is really refreshing. The visuals resemble 70s/80s with washed colors, wooden panels, clothing and hair.
I recommend this movie, it really is worth viewing, but don't expect a Beavis & Butthead style comedy, but rather a pretty deep drama about a family in grief. There won't be THAT much Metallica either, altho you could look for "references" to the bands early years..
I will be looking forward to Mr Sussers next movie.