Juventude em Fúria

OK , first of all i must admit i am not the type that likes deep drama arty farty movies so i expected not much from this but you never know when you get to watch another Dancer in the Dark or Trainspotting and the music looked tempting so i gave it a shot.

If you want to know what the movie is about read the other reviews , they cover it way better than i ever could but i simply had to write something here to let the world know this is worth the effort.

Funny , gritty , painful with a storyline that reminded me of Charles Bukowski. As a metalhead i of course liked the movie and Hesher reminds me of some of my mates. Bit rough on the edges but real and good people . Finally a writer who looks past the clichés of metal morons. Of course the brilliant acting helps a lot . I admit you have to work at the movie but it sure is worth it in the end . Go watch this movie , i assure you it will make you laugh and it will make you think and don't we wish we had more of those flicks to see

For a film like this you've really got to ask what you want. A lot of people I know might not like it or really get it. I was looking for something a bit different to watch by myself, to engorge myself in. It's properly crude (in US terms) but that's kind of the point I think. I watch a lot of films and this one made me register to IMDb as I think it's probably under-rated. The acting is GOOD throughout. The cast is good (especially the kid...if the kids in Harry Potter were half that good we'd see them a lot in movies in the future...we won't) and the vibe is excellent. It's original without trying too hard and it didn't make me feel like I'd seen this film before. The other reviews seem to sum up the premise pretty much so I won't bother. I think this film could've gone bad many times over but the quality of it holds it together. It's a bit odd, a bit wrong, a bit sad, funny, witty, intelligent, brave and charming. I may be over egging this pudding but this film very nearly slipped under my radar and I'm very glad it didn't. When I'm hunting I reckon this is the kind of review I'd like to read to fire me up a bit. Eternal Sunshine meets No country for old men......or something :-)

I feel compelled to write a review on this film, but I'm just not sure what to focus on or how to outline what I loved about it. The story is so unique, and so left of centre, that it's very hard to describe, let alone break down and review. When attempting to describe it to a friend, I found it very difficult, as it just sounds so crazy. It makes one think, how could this be that enjoyable. All I could really say was, 'you have to watch this film!', as it made me smile, laugh and connect, from opening scene to closing credits.

After seeing the trailer for this, I was immediately interested. Mainly because of the crazy, ab-lib, don't-give-a-s**t nature of Hesher, actually reminded me of a friend, and this friend's antics and philosophy on life always amuse me, and more often than not, enlighten me to how this crazy world can be, and how you really shouldn't take things so seriously. Having such excitement for an upcoming film, you can quite often be let down. Luckily for me Hesher stood up, and was everything I hoped it would be, and more.

I found the story to be simply brilliant. So random and unpredictable you never really knew where it was going, or what was going to happen next. I loved the way in which Hesher makes he's first appearance in the film, and how he somehow, without trying (so it seems), finds he's place in Grandma's home. The dialogue was simply gold and oh so funny at times, that it made me want to re-watch the film as soon as it concluded, to pick up on the quick wit and laugh all over again. The scene at the pool was definitive for me. So funny and so strange. I couldn't help but enjoy and admire the way Hesher went about things in that scene, letting himself completely go, without a fear of consequence. Acting on he's most primal impulse. Not so much in anger, but in freedom, and having fun at the expense of a few 'versatile solutions for modern living'.

Hesher is an amazing character, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is brilliant. This might sound ridiculous to some, but I think it was worthy of an award, as this is a true embodiment of a character. There is no Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this film, there's only Hesher. I haven't seen that many of Joseph's movies, but I do remember '500 Days Of Summer', and this is polar opposites as far as role is concerned, and not many actors could make such a leap, convincingly. I also became a fan of Natalie Portman after this. I love the fact she took on a role that was so different. Her character's plainness, honesty, and self-confessed faults, made her simply beautiful to watch throughout. Devin Brochu as the main boy which the story revolves around is amazing. He's level of dramatic execution is spot on in every scene, and he's so believable as TJ. The film has such rich characters, which are all played to perfection. The Grandma is also worthy of a mention, providing so much love to an otherwise somewhat tragic story.

This film manages to mix humour, sadness and heart like very few films can. Its films like this that can pick people up and put them back on their feet. It actually made me feel better about life, and less worried about the ridiculous incidentals that can make us anxious and get us down. I'm not sure how this film managed to tap into such thoughts and emotions, but somehow it did. There is no comparative circumstance in the film for me, nor is there an obvious message that everyone can relate to, it is simply a story with colourful characters, with simple lives, told in such a unique and crazy way, that for some reason you commit to it and totally embrace it, only to feel on top of the world for having done so.

Simply put, Hesher is an exploration of loss: a universal experience shared by the film's characters: a nihilistic head-banging arsonist named Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a supermarket clerk with thick-rimmed eyeglasses and financial troubles named Nicole (Natalie Portman) who doesn't like being called "lady", a depressed widower named Paul (Rainn Wilson) who takes pills and sleeps all day, and a boy named T.J (Devin Brochu) who recently lost his mother, has a crush on an older woman, and is constantly bullied at school.

There are equal moments of humor and sorrow that bring a unique balance to the film. The best way I can talk about a film is by talking about the particular moments that stood out and made it such a beautiful picture. There is a particular scene where TJ and Paul go to a self help group to help cope with their loss that is one of the most brutally realistic and painful, yet beautiful scenes I have seen on film. Seeing these people talk about their grief was like watching real people as opposed to actors. That is how good the performances are.

Aside from well-executed emotion-drenching scenes such as that one, there are also real subtle touches in the dialogue between the characters that I rarely see in other films. There is a tender scene where Nicole saves T.J. from a bully. After offering him a ride home, she confesses that the reason she helped was because she didn't want to turn on the news that night and see that a young boy was beaten to death in a parking lot. She really did it for herself so she wouldn't feel guilty later and she apologizes for being selfish like that. The irony here being that that the fact she would feel guilty about something like that makes her a good person and someone who really wants to help.

There is great acting from all involved, particularly Levitt, Wilson, and Brochu. Levitt's actor shows hardly any emotion but there is a particular scene involving a close up where you can gradually see his eyes water as his heart breaks. Wilson continues to impress. He was great in Super and was amazingly real here as well. His heartache and apathy is devastating to watch and shows you how much pain he is in. But the best performance comes from Devin Brochu. He is amazingly good for someone that young. To be able to incorporate a character so completely and fearlessly is amazing to watch. The audience feels for this young boy and you wish someone would just come in and help him. The world is very dangerous for a child and you root for T.J. and hope he overcomes all the troubles he faces.

All in all, Hesher is a great film that is at the same time both hilarious and moving.

P.S. Best soundtrack ever. 80's Metallica throughout. Battery, Jump in The Fire, Motorbreath, etc.

A raucous take on your typical indie coming-of-age film, "Hesher" paints a portrait of grief and coping with adversity using a diverse palette of humor, sadness, rage, depression and raunch. Certain types will find a good degree of truth to writer/director Spencer Susser's tonal chaos, while others will raise eyebrows, but a part of "Hesher" will resonate with everyone.

Devin Brochu stars as T.J., who from the opening scene makes it clear he's trying to get himself killed at some point during the film. He's a bit reckless, and as it turns out he and his father (Rainn Wilson) are grieving for his mother, who died just a couple months before.

T.J's troubles lead him to an unfortunate encounter with a probably homeless chain-smoking metal rocker later to be introduced as Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who needless to say plays delightfully against type here.) Turns out that Hesher is about 10 times as reckless as T.J. and in a more brutal and calculating way. He follows T.J. to school, which scares the crap out of him, yet we can only assume it is Hesher who draws indecent images in permanent marker on the car of an older student bullying T.J.

Eventually, Hesher comes over uninvited and unannounced to T.J's grandmother's house, where T.J and his father are staying. He inserts himself aggressively yet peacefully into their home and becomes their guest over time, developing a friendship with the grandmother and taking a sort of tough-love mentorship of T.J.

We are to presume that the senility of the grandmother and the lifeless apathy of the pill- popping father lead to a casual acceptance of Hesher's newfound presence in their home. It's a significant leap, but Susser and his co-writers are much more preoccupied with creating this unlikely relationship between T.J. and Hesher that logistics take a back seat. Fortunately, the blunt humor spouted off by Hesher, who communicates almost exclusively in sexual metaphors, helps mask the plot's illogical backbone.

Although never explicitly stated, it becomes obvious that Hesher wishes to teach T.J. how to stick up for himself, and more importantly how not to fear the consequences. This, of course, is not the world view of an kid in his early teens, and it leads to several emotional whirlwinds for T.J. as he starts to come of age.

The script treats T.J. like an adult despite not being one: he curses regularly (which gets worse with Hesher around), he makes friends with people twice his age such as the grocery clerk at the local store (Natalie Portman) and in general he deals with things kids his age would rather not deal with. It's a bit ridiculous, but it does make for an interesting dynamic between him and Hesher.

At its core, "Hesher" is about dealing with "the ____ that happens to you," which begins to explain why in some scenes it's just Hesher breaking stuff, or T.J. breaking stuff, or conversely a slow and quiet dramatic and emotional scene such as when T.J. and his dad go to a grief support group. Each character handles it differently, and Hesher's purpose in the story is to shake up the way T.J and his father have handled with it so far with regards to the death of the mother.

Susser definitely punches home this message, but it comes through the thick clouds of X- rated humor and with scenes strung together without any cohesive tone. The heavy metal indie image that the film wants to give off doesn't necessarily gel with everything it wants to say. Certain moments are laugh-out-loud hysterical, while others are moving. Then some just feel weird. It's definitely a film that will connect with its audience, but its wired in an awkward way that will likely turn off some viewers.

~Steven C

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