Affecting, unpredictable and often hilarious story about a
young boy, T.J. (Devin Brochu), struggling to put his and his depressed father’s
lives back together after losing his mother in a fatal car crash. He befriends a grocery store clerk (Natalie
Portman) who is sincere but doesn’t comprehend how damaged T.J. really is. Into the mix wanders an anti-social
20-something simply known as ‘Hesher,’ (played by the always good Joseph Gordon-Levitt),
who literally barges into the family’s home one day and then doesn’t leave. By being such an anarchistic free-spirit,
Hesher gets the blood flowing again in the stagnant household. I sensed that the filmmakers were counting on
the edginess of the first 90 minutes to somehow earn, (or at least even out), the
heavy dose of schmaltz that comprises the finale. I felt that the emotional payoff was indeed
earned, but that the film squanders it by suddenly veering right off into Rob
Reiner/Garry Marshall territory. I found
it a rewarding film overall, but it never became quite as provocative or inspirational
as it obviously intended to be.
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