Suspension of disbelief plays a big part in enjoying a film. Horror movies are infinitely less scary once you remember the creatures in the night don’t actually exists. Rom-coms would fall flat if the witty dialogue was the way people actually talked. Sci-fi movies wouldn’t even exist at all. However, when we lose touch with the reality of our world and become absorbed in the reality of the film, we don’t notice those things.
My biggest problem with the “Hesher” trailer (below) is its touch on reality. The film is clearly set in the “real world.” The actors hardly look glamorous and no one is driving around in flying cars. However, I found myself asking “could this really happen” as the trailer continued on. Perhaps it was growing up under the age of “stranger danger,” but I find Hesher’s relationship with the young boys family to be incredulous. Who on earth would want to host a slightly psychotic man who seems to have an interest with your son/grandson? Perhaps the film deals with this along the way or maybe it requires a suspension of disbelief that I don’t seem to be capable of.
Underneath all of the plot, though, the trailer does seem to have some kind of emotional resonance, even if it’s just on the fringe. Combine that with a fairly sturdy cast and maybe the film goes beyond what I see on the surface of the trailer.
“Hesher” premiered at Sundance Film Festival and according to IMDB has a tentative April release. The film stars recent Academy Award-winner Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rainn Wilson.
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