good film but with many flaws

From my favorite movies..

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This was my 2nd time watching "Hello Herman" and compared to all those entertaining blockbusters, I'm glad to see a movie like this being made. It proves to be educational and gives us a profound reflection. Through Herman, I can see the bullying victims' situation and feel sorry for them. Those kids shouldn't be treated like that and Herman made it known that we're the same; human beings need to be treated the same and need love. I feel sorry for those kids and wish they could stand up for themselves. This movie draws our attention to those troubled kids at school, and makes us think about what contributes to those kids' actions and what we can do to help them. As for Herman, I feel sorry that he is always being picked on and bullied by other students, which makes his insanity more understandable. However, I'm angry that he doesn't know how to stand up for himself. He allows himself to become addicted to games and doesn't even know what to do when his sister gets an accident.Sometimes people blame the family or the mother for being too busy. I always doubt that and think it's an excuse for not being responsible for themselves. There are divorced families everywhere and parents need to make a living for the family. Kids from those families should be more responsible and act like an adult. Our society does need to pay attention to those kids, help them understand their situation, and lead them to the right direction. Maybe Herman will get society's attention now and make our society take actions to prevent more tragedies.

Michelle Danner's Hello Herman provides a difficult story to tell. Norman Reedus (of the Walking Dead effectively) provides a character with a troubled past, attempting to uncover the reason behind Herman's high school massacre. Yet, Michelle Danner, a celebrated acting coach in her own rights, portrays within the eponymous character a human complexity that is bound to make audiences uncomfortable. However, that discomfort is essential to the film's intent on providing more sides to the stories of student shootings – or rather, the trials and tribulations that push these student murderers into committing such violent actions. As it turns out, Herman's own victimization to bullying invoked a violent reaction. People who have been bullied themselves can understand Herman's justification. But as reasonable as it is, the film still communicates the importance of human life and how an unconcerned regard for it is inexcusable – and how such injustice only breeds more unjustifiable actions.

This film dares to take a look at the problem of school shootings by looking at the problem of bullying and cyber-bullying, which are, sadly, continuously relevant aspects of everyday adolescence. This is a great movie for parents to watch with their high school kids-- even in middle school-- both to teach them about why bullying is wrong and to give them strength in overcoming their own potential bully issues in school. It also invites a dialogue about bullying in schools which is EXTREMELY important and not a common enough occurrence.Hello Herman is a movie full of different perspectives, so it doesn't dogmatically side with the victims or the shooter. To give you an idea of how bold this film is willing to be, the protagonist is a former White Power member who beats a young black boy to death. Whoah, right? Everyone is full of vices that they can't seem to overcome, which is a rare find in this cinematic age of super heroes and seemingly flawless do-gooders.

I am such a Norman Reedus fan, so I was very excited to see that he was in a new movie this summer. I may have initially watched Hello Herman out of loyalty to Reedus, but I took away much more than just an increased respect for Reedus as an actor. Michelle Danner blew me away with her exceptional directing that gives us a stark look at the dangers of remaining inactive at quelling violence within our schools and our households. Danner, a renowned Los Angeles acting coach, set out to make this film with endorsements from top Hollywood producers, like Steven Spielberg. From the very beginning it throws you right into the chaos of a town torn apart by the school shootings of a student embittered by perpetual abuse from bullies and personal trauma from home. The film really captures the pain and grief that effects everyone within a town that endures such tragedies. This film will most likely go down as one of the most important and relevant films of 2013