X
- 2017
- R
- Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- 1 h 36 m
- 2017
- R
- Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- 1 h 36 m
Summary Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott) is an aging Western icon with a golden voice, but his best performances are decades behind him. He spends his days reliving old glories and smoking too much weed with his former-co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy (Nick Offerman), until a surprise cancer diagnosis brings his priorities into sharp focus. He soon strikes...
Directed By: Brett Haley
Written By: Marc Basch, Brett Haley
- 2017
- R
- Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- 1 h 36 m
- 2017
- R
- Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- 1 h 36 m
The Hero
61
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott) is an aging Western icon with a golden voice, but his best performances are decades behind him. He spends his days reliving old glories and smoking too much weed with his former-co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy (Nick Offerman), until a surprise cancer diagnosis brings his priorities into sharp focus. He soon strikes...
Directed By: Brett Haley
Written By: Marc Basch, Brett Haley
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
61
64% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
32% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
61
64% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
32% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
The cancer-diagnosis plot device is certainly well-worn and can often be viciously maudlin, but Haley does well in utilizing it as a means to work on something a bit more nuanced.
Like Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart," this is an opportunity for a sometimes-underrated actor (Elliott has never been nominated for an Oscar) to show his range and capabilities.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.7
52% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
45% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.7
52% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
45% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
I'm not sure any gunslinger Sam Elliott has played in the movies was any braver than Elliott himself was in playing this part. Also not sure how many people want to see a film about an older guy just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (Not a spoiler; we learn this right away.) It isn't a depressing film, honest. But while Elliott and his character are early 70s, when you see him from behind -- white hair, scrawny frame, neck skin with tire tracks in it -- he could be 99. Elliott portrays an actor who naturally is quite privileged, despite not getting calls for movies anymore. Yet his late-in-life struggles and insights have a universal quality one can identify with (say, at middle age or later). There's a scene with Katharine Ross --his real wife, playing his ex-wife -- that is beautifully subtle. Not sure about the 30-something girlfriend who turns up, but she quotes Edna St. Vincent Millay so I'll give her a pass.
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Director Brett Haley, who co-wrote the script with Marc Basch, brings enough understated sympathy to Lee's character to make the picture work--it throws off a gentle, sweet-spirited energy.
The best thing about the film is the bromance between Lee and his weed dealer, Jeremy (Nick Offerman), which deepens into loveliness in one memorable scene.
Haley’s movie is ultimately a feature-length valentine to his star, and as such it’s something of a mixed blessing.
Sam Elliott is Sam Elliott as Sam Elliott in The Hero, a sentimental and sporadically effective celebration of the veteran character actor.
It’s as if Haley viewed his star’s strengths — laconic wit, unforced masculinity, polite romanticism — as the only elements needed for a Sam Elliott showcase, rather than as the building blocks from which to mold an original character.
First thing's first: Sam Elliot gives us his career-best performance in this. He's all the reason you need to see this simple, yet often times touching film. Sure, it's got its fair share of dramatic cliches, and the whole "veteran actor playing a character coming to terms with his age" storyline has been visited a handful of times in many other films as well, but Elliot's charm and just the right touch of emotion from him alone is more than enough to overcome all of that to make this a great and well-worthwhile film overall!
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The tale of an aging iconic actor!
This film is kind of honours Sam Elliott for his real life achievement. Anyway, he was phenomenal. The film was realistic, so most of the parts were slow moving. This is about an aging film actor, who has not worked on any projects recently. So desperate to get one, but sad news brings a speed breaker to his life. Now confused him, does not know how to approach the rest of the life. He starts with his family to fix the past mistake. The remaining tale focused on his other things.
It was Sam Elliott's major role in decades. This should be watched for him considering his real life as an actor. It will be a good film for those who have seen his old films, particularly westerns. The actor who did not just survived because of his iconic mustache and golden voice, but have given fine performances too. This was a too simple film. It do has emotions, but not appealing enough. I might slightly rated it low, but the film is good, at least for once watching.
6/10
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I really wanted to like this movie, as I am a fan of Sam Elliott. But, in the end a great movie needs a good+ script which is not just a rehash of aged plot lines... and, it also needs something that looks like direction. Neither of which were in evidence here. Many scenes were just short of somnambulent. As in sleep inducing. Kinda a waste of an iconic actor.
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Production Company
Houston King Productions,
Northern Lights Films,
Northern Lights Films and Media Ventures,
Park Pictures
Release Date Jun 9, 2017
Duration 1 h 36 m
Rating R
Website
http://thehero.film/
Awards
Chlotrudis Awards
• 3 Nominations
Newport Beach Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
New Mexico Film Critics
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
