STL Today: "Hesher" is the definition of a dubious achievement. For the rest of his life, Spencer Susser can brag to the other ditch diggers that he persuaded two of the best young actors in Hollywood to star in one of the worst movies ever made.
A strange, unpleasant film that lacks the tools to successfully get its point across; it knows what it wants to say but not what it wants to be. Full review by Chris Pandolfi.
Metro Times: For those not versed in dated mall lingo, a "hesher" was a particular breed of long-haired, pre-grunge headbanger, similar to a burnout; but usually distinguished by more grime and a nastier attitude. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has attitude in spades as the title character, a living personification of the scraggly social misfits who'd do donuts in suburban parking lots.
Detroit News: Hesher is a beautiful mess.
With his long, scraggly hair, skin-and-bones bod and obscene, amateurish tattoos, he looks like some heavy metal washout.
But then one of the beauties of "Hesher" is you never really know who he is, or where he came from. He's a wastoid of mystery.