On Sunday, January 24, 2010 I attended the World Premiere of Hesher at the Sundance Film Festival. The event was held at the 603-seat Racquet Club in Park City, Utah.

In Hesher, someone who can only be described as a crazed young man beyond rehabilitation (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enters the lives of the Forneys. Paul (Rainn Wilson) and his young son T.J. (Devin Brochu) are the survivors of a suburban family coming apart at the seams since the death of Mrs. Forney. Hesher's unlikely intervention takes them in a direction unimaginable. While Gordon-Levitt is, expectedly, beyond compare as the titular character -- somewhat reprising his Manic role -- this is really T.J.'s coming-of-age tale. Brochu's performance left the audience's heads shaking after the screening here. All around me agreed that he is a future star in the making.


I rated the film a 5/5 and selected it as one of my Top 5 Picks from this year's festival (see MY REVIEW). After the screening, Hesher was acquired for distribution by Newmarket Films for a reported $1 million.

Here are some pictures I shot at the Q&A afterward. Director Spencer Susser was joined onstage by star Devin Brochu and writer David Michod.


COMPLETE GALLERY (12 photos)