Spencer Susser’s Hesher premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, but with a talented cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, and a distinctly ‘indie’ vibe about it, we are hoping to see it open in Australian cinemas at some point in 2011. Gordon-Levitt is the titular character, an anarchic hobo who befriends a grieving teenage boy, while Portman is almost unrecognisable as a daggy grocery store clerk. (Kidding. Do movies think we’re stupid or something? You can’t disguise Natalie Portman by chucking on a pair of specs and messy hair). Based on the preview it looks like the big name stars will be overshadowed by the performances of a hirsute Rainn Wilson playing it straight and Devin Brochu who play a grieving father and son.
UPDATE Thank you commenter “LACH” for reminding us that mad-talented Australian David Michod – the man behind Animal Kingdom – co-wrote the script for Hesher. When we spoke to Michod back in June 2010 he told us about getting Hesher made:
Pedestrian Can you tell us a bit about Hesher because you talk about the casting validating a script and there you have Jopseh Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman in Spencer’s debut feature film. What was the co-writing process like and do you consider yourself more of a writer or director?
David Michod I’ve certainly done a lot more writing than I have directing, I think that’s just the nature of the film industry. Anyone who is a writer/director will have done more writing than they have directing because getting yourself onto a set to direct requires a huge amount of infrastructure and money, whereas writing you can do at home by yourself. I’ve been writing for quite a long time and I like doing it. The writing that I’ve done with Spencer Susser on Hesher and I Love Sarah Jane and writing that I’ve done with Nash Edgerton, I enjoy that kind of work. It’s almost always a scenario where those guys have come to me with an idea of some kind, even just a really basic idea, and then we flesh it out together and I enjoy doing that. I enjoy writing with someone else but I most specifically like writing with the person who will direct the film because you’re not flying blind in the same way you are when you’re writing speculatively with no idea of where the film is going to end up. Spencer came to me about five years ago; basically he was excited about the idea of this one particular character, which was the title character that Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays – who’s just this kind of anarchic, metal head who turns this little kid’s life upside down. For that script we worked on it here in Australia and we worked on it over in LA and it’s just fun because co-writing of that nature, is basically sitting in a room with someone you’re close to and just talking about life. And there’s kind of no better job to have.
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