Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, Natalie Portman, Piper Laurie, and Devin Brochu, the film follows the titular rebellious metalhead (Gordon-Levitt) and his chaotic misadventures with T. J. Forney (Brochu), a depressed high school freshman coming to terms with the death of his mother in a car crash.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 13, 2011, to mixed reviews from critics and was a box office failure.

He and his passive, depressed and pill-taking father Paul live with T.J.'s grandmother Madeleine, where they are soon joined by a squatter, Hesher, a foul-mouthed, tattooed, heavy metal-loving lout.

After school, Dustin, a bully from the towing service, finds his car vandalized and blames T.J., who is saved and taken home by Nicole, a grocery store clerk, who admitted to knowing of the attacks towards him but did nothing until now.

Later, Hesher sets Dustin's car on fire, leading to police questioning T.J., but lack of evidence forces them to let him go.

There, Hesher trashes the swimming pool and lights the diving board on fire before he shocks Nicole and T.J. by leaving them there alone.

T.J. steals his dad's credit card and takes money to buy the car back, but is told it's been removed.

He decides to give the money to Nicole, but when he gets there she is having sex with Hesher, so he damages his van while telling both of them he doesn't want to see them again and leaves.

After a brief hesitation T.J. and Paul run to catch up and take a place on each side with their hands on the casket to help Hesher push and also to join the walk with Grandma.

[3] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised the film and Gordon-Levitt's performance, stating "So what if Hesher flies off its wobbly handles — it keeps springing funny and touching surprises.