Hescher

Released: 2010
Drama
Director: Spencer Susser
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Devin Brochu
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A troubled boy and his father are struggling to adjust after the loss of a loved one when a rebellious young man starts living in their garage unannounced.

I'd not heard of this movie before watching it, so I didn't know what it would be like.
Turns out, it was really bleak and dark.  I think at some points it was meant to be funny, but it wasn't.
A boy is lost.  His father is depressed and disconnected from life after losing his wife.  The boy is sad over the death of his mother and is starting to have problems at school.  They both live with grandma, the father's mother, and she is the only one who seems to be together, but has health problems.
One day, the boy takes a fall riding his bike through a housing construction site and is so mad he throws a rock through a window.  This attracts the attention of some local security and that's when this character Hesher makes his appearance.  I guess he was living in his van, or the empty unfinished homes and is mad at the boy for attracting attention.  He follows the boy home and ends up threatening him that if he doesn't let him live there, he will kill him and his whole family.  Sounds upbeat so far right?
Well, the boy's already having a hard time, but Hesher makes it even more difficult by doing all sorts of illegal and ill advised things to try to "help" the young boy out.

This is a very heavy plot with no comic relief.  I think it's best if you watch it if you're really depressed.  But even that way, you might not enjoy it at all.  I really didn't.

I say skip it.
2 out of 5 for some good acting by the boy and Levitt, but not much else here for entertainment.