'Hesher' review: Worst of indie movie excess

Hesher

Drama. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu and Natalie Portman. Directed by Spencer Susser. (R. 100 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

There's a reason everyone in "Hesher" puts up with Hesher, that no one calls the cops on him, no one challenges him, no one questions the wisdom of his observations and no one tries to kill him while he's asleep. The reason - and there is only one reason - is that the movie is called "Hesher." He is the central character, and the other characters onscreen seem to know it.

But wait. The other characters can't know they're in a movie, can they? So it must be that they defer to this violent, freeloading slob, who has nothing going for him but a superior attitude, because it's convenient for the filmmaker. If they didn't - if people in "Hesher" treated the title character as anyone would in life - they would put distance between themselves and him, and the movie would come to a grinding halt in five minutes. That would be a good thing.

"Hesher" is about as awful as independent films get, a mix of ugliness and unearned sentiment, with a flat story, repellent and pathetic characters and dialogue that consists of lots of stammering and cursing. A nasty little boy (Devin Brochu) lives with his father (Rainn Wilson) and grandmother in the recent aftermath of his mother's death. The father has become a zombie with grief, Granny (Piper Laurie, nice to see her) is sick, and into this power vacuum comes Hesher, a long-haired thug who bullies his way into the house and stays there, smoking, eating their food and threatening people.

It's hard to say if writer-director Spencer Susser intends that we find this situation compelling or amusing. My suspicion is that he'll take what he can get.

One might call the world of "Hesher" depressing if the movie were effective enough to incite that emotion. Better to say that it's bleak without relief, but also without compelling or truthful observation. We're offered a series of repugnant situations and unspecific, cliched interactions, and we're expected to feel something besides impatience. Joseph Gordon-Levitt seems to relish playing a character with such power over his environment, but the character is fundamentally empty.

Natalie Portman - how did they get her for this? Impressive - plays a part-time supermarket cashier who is so broke that a parking ticket is an occasion for panic (and she doesn't even live in San Francisco). The filmmaker gives Portman nothing to do but act nervous and vague and talk as if she'd misplaced about 30 IQ points. Portman scholars of the 22nd century will find this a curious entry.

-- Advisory: This film contains strong language, sexual situations and violence.

E-mail Mick LaSalle at mlasalle@sfchronicle.com.