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Review: For an Aging Actor, Another Chance to Be ‘The Hero’

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

• June 8, 2017

Salty of hair and weary of manner, Lee (Sam Elliott), an aging actor now reduced to using his treacle-and-tobacco voice to peddle barbecue sauce, knows he’s a cliché. And it’s that awareness, conveyed in every pained glance and drawled syllable, that saves “The Hero.” Without Lee’s complicity in the triteness of his story — and Mr. Elliott’s ability to sell it as a melancholy burden — this low-key feature by Brett Haley wouldn’t be half as pleasurable.

Watch Lee’s face scrunch with wry incredulity when he realizes that a gorgeous comedian half his age (Laura Prepon) is making moves on him. Later, when he hears her use his declining body as fodder for her stand-up routine, the camera braces with him for the impact of the crowd’s laughter. This refusal to soft pedal the age difference — or pussyfoot around the tragedy of withered fame — prevents the film from sinking into sentiment. And Mr. Elliott, for whom the story was written and who appears in almost every scene, lends even the most hackneyed moments a faded authenticity.

So when a cancer diagnosis propels Lee to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Krysten Ritter) and take a last stab at cementing his movie-star legacy, his journey takes on a gentle urgency. Katharine Ross makes a brief but welcome appearance as Lee’s thriving ex-wife, and the director of photography, Rob C. Givens, gives the California coastline a wistful majesty. But this film belongs to its star: Like the Dame Judi Dench character created by the comedian Tracey Ullman, he’s a national treasure.

Rated R for May-December sex and year-round drug use. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes.

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‘the hero’: film review | sundance 2017.

Sam Elliott stars as an aging actor confronting mortality — and romancing a younger woman played by Laura Prepon — in Brett Haley's 'The Hero,' premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance.

By Jon Frosch

Senior Editor, Reviews

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As any fan of The Big Lebowski — and countless other movie buffs — will tell you, Sam Elliott ’s smoky, whiskey-soaked baritone is one of American cinema’s undervalued treasures. A reliable source of pleasure, that voice can also be something of a saving grace: It pretty much rescues Brett Haley’s Sundance dramatic competition entry The Hero , cutting clean through the film’s pile of clichés with its gruff feeling and wry, weary wit.

Elliott is best known for his cowboys ( Tombstone , Big Lebowski ) and bikers ( Mask , Road House ), but lately he’s had a mini-renaissance playing heart-throbby current and old flames to Blythe Danner in Haley’s last movie  I’ll See You in My Dreams , Lily Tomlin in Grandma and Jane Fonda on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie . It’s easy to see why: Tall and lean, with luxuriant silver hair and eyes that can gleam with either kindness or menace — and, again, that voice — he’s still sexy at 72.

In The Hero , unlike in most of his other projects, Elliott appears in nearly every frame as Lee Hayden, an over-the-hill Western film star whose cancer diagnosis prompts him to plan a comeback, reconnect with his estranged daughter and romance a younger woman. If that story sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve seen it before, with tweaks and variations, in movies like The Verdict , Tender Mercies , The Wrestler ,  Crazy Heart and many more.

Indeed, a sense of déjà vu clings to the film — from the succession of predictable narrative beats to some done-to-death visual motifs (the waves of the Pacific rolling in, for example) — threatening to choke the life out of it. But Haley (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Marc Basch ) has a smooth hand, a light touch and, above all, the sense to stick close to Elliott. The leading man slips into the role as if it were a favorite pair of old sneakers, delivering a performance of such gentle melancholy and unforced charisma that spending 90 minutes with him is painless, and sometimes pleasant.

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When we meet Lee, he’s living off residuals (and the occasional barbecue sauce ad voiceover), spending much of his time holed up in his secluded Malibu home with a stiff drink and a fat joint. Accelerating what seems like a slow slide into depression is the news that a tumor doctors have found on his pancreas is malignant. But rather than schedule a potentially life-prolonging procedure, Lee goes to decompress with dealer/friend/former-co-star Jeremy (Nick Offerman ).

That’s how Lee first encounters Charlotte (Laura Prepon ), a 35-ish stand-up comic who comes to Jeremy’s for the drugs and stays for the banter with the aging, mustachioed stud on the couch (“I’ve got a thing for old guys,” she later admits). As she’s proven on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black , Prepon is a first-rate flirt, her cat-that-ate-the-canary grin, husky voice and twinkling gaze weapons in a formidable arsenal of seduction. But something about Lee — his seen-it-all stoicism, his sadness — stirs Charlotte, and the push-pull affair that ensues between them (in a nice reversal, she has to woo him, overcoming his hang-ups about their age difference) is, surprisingly, the film’s freshest element. 

It would have been even fresher if Haley hadn’t thrown bits of hackneyed plotting and trite character detail at the two. On their first date, Lee takes Charlotte to a dinner where he’s receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Western Appreciation and Preservation Guild. In the back of the limo en route to the event, they wash some Molly down with champagne and Charlotte starts quoting her favorite poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay . Much as it pains me to criticize any movie that might motivate a viewer to pick up a book of poetry, the moment feels phony — an unnecessary way to telegraph depth and intelligence in a woman who, I can only presume, Haley feared would otherwise seem vacuous or unsavory.

At the event, a high-as-a-kite Lee gives a silly acceptance speech that, in the film’s most cringeworthy development, “goes viral,” leading to a sudden flood of incoming scripts — and, of course, a big audition. The audition is one of several scenes or situations in The Hero that you see coming a mile away; another is when Charlotte invites Lee to her stand-up show, only to perform a lacerating — and, to Lee, humiliating — monologue about the indignities of sleeping with a much older man.

The most numbingly routine parts of the film, though, involve Lee’s artist ex-wife (Elliott’s real-life wife Katharine Ross) and daughter Lucy ( Krysten Ritter), who’s still angry at him for essentially having been an absent father. There may be compelling insights yet to be mined from parent-child reconciliation storylines, but suffice it to say that The Hero doesn’t find them.

The bottom line is that while the film is restrained and sensitively crafted hokum, it’s still hokum, and you may find it hard not to feel cheated; Elliott and Prepon create vivid characters who are summarily plugged into a male-weepie formula that leaves little room for complexity or idiosyncrasy. Crazy Heart (2009), with Jeff Bridges as an alcoholic country singer, followed a similarly tired template, but chipped away at your defenses with stirring tunes and a stubbornly shaggy rhythm that felt true to life.

The Hero is a less distinctive movie, down to Haley’s fluid direction, standard pacing and the classic L.A. “winter” scenery — golden-hued mountains, cloudy blue coast — captured by DP Rob C. Givens. The director tiptoes toward something more formally daring in a handful of recurring dream sequences — Lee, in cowboy attire, roaming the set of his most famous Western (called The Hero ) — that play like a promising idea that, alas, hasn’t been fully thought out.

Luckily, Elliott succeeds in pulling you into Lee’s emotional orbit and holding you there even when the movie falters. It’s a low-key, largely reactive performance, and all the more moving for it: The actor’s most memorable moments don’t come via tantrums or tearful breakdowns, but in scenes where he simply looks and listens — wounded, hopeful, resilient and, yes, heroic.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition) Production companies: Northern Lights Films, Park Pictures and Houston King Productions Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon , Nick Offerman , Krysten Ritter, Katharine Ross Director: Brett Haley Writers: Brett Haley, Marc Basch Producers: Houston King, Sam Bisbee, Erik Rommesmo Executive producers: Jeff Schlossman , Bill Wallwork , David Bunce , Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Lance Acord , Theodora Dunlap, Franklin Carson, Danny Rifkin , Frank Brenner Director of photography: Rob C. Givens Composer: Keegan DeWitt Production designer: Eric J. Archer Costume designer: Alana Morshead Casting: Emily Schweber

Not rated, 96 minutes

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Movie Review: The Hero (2017)

• Doug Hennessy
• Movie Reviews
• One response
• --> July 17, 2017

The camera loves Sam Elliott, and why not? He has a tall, lean body with thick gray, unruly hair hanging over a furrowed brow, a trademark horseshoe mustache to go along with dark chest hair; it all blends so well with the unforgettable masculinity in his deep, golden voice that seems to descend directly from the gods.

At the beginning of The Hero we see him using that voice recording a commercial for BBQ sauce.

The Hero is an insightful and thoughtful exposé of an iconic Western actor named Lee Hayden (Elliott, “ Did You Hear About the Morgans? ”), a popular actor known mostly for one-role, now past seventy and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Not getting any movie work from his agent, he’s stuck doing commercials, and lives with his memories telling everyone a made-up story about doing that one last Western.

Why bother with a movie? His voice makes him plenty of money doing commercials. Besides, who wants to see a gray-haired geezer play with his six-shooter? Well, a man has his pride and dignity to maintain, so he keeps repeating his made-up story. Meanwhile, he doesn’t tell anyone about his diagnosis, not his ex-wife Valarie, played by Elliott’s real-life spouse Katharine Ross (“Slip, Tumble & Slide”), nor his twenty-something daughter Lucy (Krysten Ritter, “ Big Eyes ”) or his new girlfriend Charlotte (Laura Prepon, “ The Girl on the Train ”) who scares him because he really likes her, even though she is half his age; she really likes him too, though, and they have a good relationship.

Well, at least she’s older than his daughter, he rationalizes.

He deals with all this anxiety in the most honest and believable way he can, by smoking more marijuana (provided by Nick Offerman, “ The Founder ”) and increasing his daily dose of bourbon.

Elliott is in almost every frame of The Hero , and with his moody, nearing-the-end resignation about life his acting stands out as one of the best performances of his career. Director Brett Haley directed Elliott before in another senior-citizen themed film, “I’ll See You in my Dreams” with Blythe Danner. He was mainly eye-candy for the AARP females in that one, and here, although there is much more to his character, Haley again uses Elliott as the object of the female gaze: His camera lingers over every part of Lee. To show his vulnerable side, in a funny and touching scene Charlotte, who is a stand-up comedian, uses her experience with Lee as the basis for a comic routine joking about the private parts of older men. Lee, in the audience to give her some support, is so embarrassed he has to leave the building. He can’t figure what to make of Charlotte. He definitely wants to keep this beguiling woman in his life . . . but how?

Don’t expect a typical May-December salacious stereotype, however. The script, written by Haley and Marc Basch, goes deeper. Charlotte and Lee spend most of their time talking and figuring things out. Prepon and Elliott have such an honest chemistry they are a pleasure to watch. Prepon shows that her character is enjoying her time with Lee and as their relationship gradually grows and unfolds, you’ll find that The Hero is not a sad, feel sorry for the old-guy story; it’s a small snippet-of-life about people dealing the best they can with what life has thrown their way.

Tagged: actor , cancer , disease , father , relationships

Critic of movies. Board member of film festivals. All around great guy.

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'Movie Review: The Hero (2017)' has 1 comment

July 17, 2017 @ 5:48 pm Calvin

First impression this has a similar feel to “Crazy Heart”. Jeff Bridges won his Oscar for his role of an aging musician- maybe the role of an aging actor will get Same Elliott his first nomination.

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Common Sense Media Review

Gorgeous martial arts movie for older kids.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this mature movie is a meditation on the nature of heroism, the purpose of violence, and what it takes to live in peace. So if you go expecting Jackie Chan, your kids will be mystified. Kids younger than 12 are going to find the circular nature of the narrative very confusing since the story…

Why Age 14+?

Characters (including innocent civilians) killed in showers of arrows. Principle

One bare bottom; a mistress has her robe torn open (non-explicitly) and there is

The main character is invited to "drink" with the King.

Any Positive Content?

Morally complex idea of being a "hero" -- not just a superhero defeati

Except for a flashback scene involving jealousy and a love triangle -- which tur

Violence & Scariness

Characters (including innocent civilians) killed in showers of arrows. Principle characters die in swordfights and stabbings, with only some bloodshed (some combatants are simply slapped and tapped with the flat sides of the weapons instead -- this tends to be an insult). One double suicide by sword.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One bare bottom; a mistress has her robe torn open (non-explicitly) and there is consentual sex -- seen only as writhing shapes under sheets. Talk of a one-night stand and what is more or less adultery.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Morally complex idea of being a "hero" -- not just a superhero defeating powerful enemies but one with a secret agenda who is willing to change his mission and die for a superior cause (and possibly be misperceived as a traitor). Sub-themes about the deceptive nature of "truth"; destructiveness of jealousy and revenge; need to put aside regional differences to unify as one vast, more powerful union -- even if it means submitting to conquest by a tyrant.

Positive Role Models

Except for a flashback scene involving jealousy and a love triangle -- which turns out to be a lie -- characters are elevated examples of spiritual discipline, grace, focus, and purity (in Chinese folklore as well as kung-fu film, this is what makes them fly and do their superhuman stuff). They not only fight for their causes but sometimes refuse to fight for the same reasons, even when it means death. Female characters are equally as strong as males.

Parents need to know that this mature movie is a meditation on the nature of heroism, the purpose of violence, and what it takes to live in peace. So if you go expecting Jackie Chan, your kids will be mystified. Kids younger than 12 are going to find the circular nature of the narrative very confusing since the story is told four different times in four different versions. Also, unlike Crouching Tiger , there's a lot of talking in the movie, which means a lot of subtitles. Unless you want someone tugging on your arm saying "What did he say?" we suggest teens and up age wise. There's one naked tush in the beginning, and a woman has her clothes ripped off in a lovemaking scene but otherwise, the only concern is the swordplay and the occasional blood. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (5)

Based on 1 parent review

Complex, interesting ideas and themes take a while to process and think through

What's the story.

Set in a time before the unification of China, HERO follows the story of a nameless warrior (martial arts star Jet Li ) who plans to assassinate the ruthless ruler of the kingdom of Qin. He tells the king he has killed the king's three most feared enemies -- Sky, Snow, and Broken Sword -- but the king doesn't believe his story. Three further flashback stories ensue in scenes accented with reds, whites, blues, and greens.

Is It Any Good?

Hero is a very sophisticated movie. It's not Jackie Chan or even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but a serious meditation on the nature of heroism. This may be one of the most beautiful movies ever shot.

There is some blood, a good deal of suspense and, in what is guaranteed to confuse younger kids, "nameless" tells four different versions of the story to the king. As one 10-year-old said, "It doesn't have a clear plot, but it does have a clear moral."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why the movie told the same story four different ways and why the nameless hero does what he does in the end.

Also, this movie is an excellent springboard to talk about what it took to make the modern nation states we have today.

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 27, 2004
• On DVD or streaming : November 30, 2004
• Cast : Jet Li , Maggie Cheung , Zhang Ziyi
• Director : Zhang Yimou
• Studio : Miramax
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Sports and Martial Arts
• Run time : 99 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality
• Last updated : April 28, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

House of Flying Daggers

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A Hero finds writer-director Asghar Farhadi once again grappling with weighty themes -- with the audience emerging as the winner.

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'The Hero' Review: Sam Elliott Shines In An Otherwise Middling Drama

The Hero centers on an aging movie star who's best remembered for his performance in a beloved western forty years earlier. It's a vehicle written specifically for actor Sam Elliott , who, of course, has his own storied history in that genre and has embraced that vibe as a key part of his acting persona, even in films as divergent as Ghost Rider and The Big Lebowski . While The Hero doesn't offer any particularly insightful observations about what it means to get older in Hollywood, it's still a pleasure to watch Elliott – a perennial ensemble player since his made-for-TV movie heyday of the '80s and '90s – do terrific work as the clear lead of a film that lasers in on his sensibilities as a performer.

Elliott plays Lee Hayden, a 72-year-old actor whose glory days are behind him. He makes a living using his lustrous voice to record voiceovers for barbecue sauce commercials, but spends most of his days getting stoned with his drug dealer ( Nick Offerman ) and pining for a time when he had a better relationship with his estranged daughter ( Krysten Ritter ). But his dead end life is turned upside down when he meets Charlotte ( Laura Prepon ), an enigmatic woman in her 30s who isn't like everyone else: since she hasn't seen Lee's famous western (also called  The Hero ), she sees him as the man he is instead of an icon. The two begin a relationship, something happens that put Lee back in the national spotlight, and their relationship takes an unforeseen twist; this is a film of simple pleasures, so I won't go into further detail about story points in case you decide to seek it out for yourselves.

The most fascinating aspect of the movie is its depiction of hazy dream sequences, which are peppered throughout. In these moments, Lee is back on the set of The Hero , dressed in classic western regalia and replaying famous scenes. But he's also aware that he's on a set, and in the inquisitive way he searches through his trailer and the surrounding areas, it's almost like he's excavating his own memories. With a heightened color palette and a deliberate pacing that's even slower than the rest of the film's already-meandering drawl, these cinematic dreams are a cool stylistic flourish that spice up an otherwise straightforward drama.

Offerman has some nice comedic moments, and Prepon does a solid job keeping her character's true intentions close to the vest, but it's clear from the outset that this is Sam Elliott's movie, and it's a delight to see him so easily rise to the challenge of carrying the whole film on his back. He appears in nearly every frame, and it couldn't have been easy to grapple with a story that's so blatantly meta – especially when his character spends so much time failing, mired in guilt and doubt. Elliott successfully underplays nearly every emotion his character feels, resulting in a performance that's profoundly sad yet hopeful; when a half-smile creeps out under that iconic mustache, you get the sense that everything will somehow be okay.

Sadly, co-writer/director Brett Haley ( I'll See You in My Dreams ) seems content with dropping his star into a storytelling template so predictable you start to wonder what Elliott could do if he were given material that truly pushed him as an actor instead of a script that encourages him to lean in to his current persona. And it's not only the story that's full of cliches – the visuals are also a victim, returning over and over again to the rolling waves of the ocean as a shorthand stand-in for symbolic meaning.

Despite some cringeworthy moments – a love scene that goes on a bit too long, a drug-fueled acceptance speech at an awards show – the actor elevates the material and keeps the movie afloat, bringing a heft to something that, in lesser hands, might be so formulaic that it's unwatchable. Thankfully, Elliott's baritone voice and world-weary eyes go a long way to endearing an audience, no matter what he's saying. Even listening to him record barbecue sauce commercials can put a smile on your face.

/Film Rating: 6 out of 10

• Contributors

The Hero (2017) Movie Review: A Familiar but Moving Story

For the past nine years, several actors have played similar performances to that of Sam Elliott’s in The Hero , and have gone on to obtain Oscar recognition. It happened for Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler , Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart , and, to an extent, Michael Keaton in Birdman . All three played a once-famous icon that has lost his way and attempts to make a comeback while, at the same time, starting a new relationship and trying to reconnect with estranged family members.

Rourke and Keaton received nods for their performances, while Bridges won for his. You could say that the Academy does love this kind of story, but, at the same time, there’s a reason why these three were nominated. All of them were exceptional, and, arguably, the work they did for those films was the best of their career.

While it is a bit too early to tell if Elliott will receive a nod for his work in The Hero , it shouldn’t come as a shock if it does happen. The 72-year-old actor, known mostly for his performances in westerns, gives a heartbreaking performance as Lee Hayden, an actor who was once famous, but has since lost his way. Lee is mostly handed voice-over work for commercials just to keep the bills paid. There’s only one thing in his career for which he is proud. It’s a western called The Hero , and it’s the one for which he’s about to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Western Appreciation and Preservation Guild.

But Lee wants more out of his life. Ever since his work in The Hero , he doesn’t feel he’s really achieved much else. He’s divorced; estranged from his daughter, Lucy (Krystin Ritter); and spends his free time getting high with Jeremy (Nick Offerman), another divorced actor with whom Lee worked on a short-lived television series. In addition, Lee finds out that he has pancreatic cancer, and doesn’t have much time to live. Through Jeremy, he meets Charlotte (Laura Prepon), a comedian to whom Lee becomes attracted despite the fact that there’s a 30-year gap between the two.

From the opening scene to the end credits, The Hero is Elliott’s film. In real life, the always-busy character actor has appeared mostly in supporting roles, bringing his macho, no-nonsense approach to films like Tombstone , Road House , We Were Soldiers , and others during the course of his nearly 40-year career. He’s also proven to have quite the sense of humor, as witnessed in films such as The Big Lebowski , and his baritone voice has lead him to landing a bunch of narration work for a variety of brands such as Ram Trucks and Coors.

Watching Elliott in The Hero is unlike anything in which you’ve seen him. He’s a broken man, hoping to find redemption in the career to which he’s held on for years. But, at the same time, he comes to realize that there are things in his personal life he needs to amend. And he’s hoping to do so before it’s too late.

The Hero is similar to the aforementioned Wrestler and other films in dealing with personal issues while trying to regain focus on a career. It doesn’t exactly go out of its way to make itself different from others like it, and one can see where it’s going. But it’s Elliott that carries the film. He’s got a charm for which he’s well known that he brings to the character during the moments in which he bonds with Charlotte and when he meets fans of the one hit in his career.

The supporting cast works here as well, even though they’re primarily stuck in the obvious roles for this kind of story. Prepon gets the most out of the bunch as Lee’s love interest. Their chemistry is kinetic, and it’s great when she has to introduce him to some modern terminology, such as what it means to go viral. Offerman is his usual goofball self, but his character is a treat to watch. Ritter gets little to do, but is serviceable, and the same can be said for Katherine Ross, Elliott’s real-life wife who plays his ex-wife here.

Though Elliott is an actor that seldom gets the lead part, with The Hero , it’s safe to say that he has the capability to excel in that position just as much as he does in the many supporting roles he’s had over the years. Director Brett Haley gives the iconic character actor something out of the ordinary for him, and, without hesitation, he’s able to bring to life a person that we love and want to see succeed.

Some elements to The Hero are reflections of Elliott’s life as an actor, from people mentioning how they love his voice and his thick mustache to the fact that he does not get the recognition his fans wish he did. Elliott is certainly no one-hit wonder like his character, but with a lengthy career in Hollywood, many feel that he’s long overdue for an award of some kind. The Hero could be the film that gets him, at least, his first Oscar nomination, which he rightfully deserves.

David Wangberg

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‘The Hero’ Review: Drama on Aging Western Star Gives Sam Elliott a Gift

• By David Fear

It’s fitting that you hear the voice first. Even if the name Sam Elliott somehow doesn’t ring a bell, you definitely know that gravelly baritone, the same one that’s graced everything from Dodge Ram commercials to Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski’s stoner escapades. When we meet up with him in The Hero, the man with the world’s greatest living mustache is in a sound booth, recording an TV spot for a BBQ sauce: “The per -fect pardner for your chick -en.” An unseen director keeps asking for one more take; Elliott’s character, a former Western movie star named Lee Hayden who’s firmly into his twilight years, keeps saying it again and again. He occasionally emphasizes a different syllable here and there. But Lee is stuck in a loop, frustratingly repeating the ad’s tagline ad infinitum. Welcome to an actor’s existential nightmare. I can’t go on. I must go on. The per -fect pardner for your chick -en.

By the time that scene shows up a second time in Brett Haley’s tender, touching drama, you realize that certain folks can eventually turn the lamest of phrases into either a cry for help or a declaration of pure, unfettered joy. And more importantly, it reminds you that it’s easy to take a talent like Elliott for granted, until someone hands him the sort of role that lets this stoic pillar of hypermasculinity play the scales. You may walk into this modest little indie character study feeling like this seventysomething sex symbol is the ultimate oh-it’s-that-guy from decades of supporting roles and TV guest appearances. You will almost assuredly leave The Hero knowing that he is a bona fide national treasure.

As for Lee Hayden, he’s simply content to take a few voiceover gigs to pay the rent, spend his days getting high with his pot-dealer buddy (Nick Offerman) and gently coast on his former glory days. He used to be a real-deal horse opera icon – not unlike Elliott, who’s played lifeguards and lean, mean gangsters but is probably best known for sporting  Stetsons on screen – and an organization named the Western Appreciation and Preservation Guild wants to give him a lifetime achievement award. Then some biopsy results come back, along with bad news. Hayden doesn’t tell anyone – not his friend, not his agent, not his ex-wife (Elliott’s real-life spouse Katharine Ross), not his estranged daughter (Krysten Ritter). He doesn’t even mention it to Charlotte (Laura Prepon), the young, budding stand-up comic who starts producing sparks with the elderly gent before they’ve even exchanged a word.

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There’s more life on the horizon for Lee, naturally, including a May-December romance, an unlikely second chance at A-list fame in the everything-goes-viral age, some attempts to repair a legacy of regrets and familial fuck-ups and a few genuinely cringeworthy moments of humiliation. But it’s death, which keeps rearing its ugly head as a hanging man in Hayden’s Western-flavored dreams, that haunts both our hero and The Hero – the sense that, no matter how many shots of the lapping ocean Haley drops in for lyrical seasoning, the character’s mortality is constantly tapping him on the weathered shoulder. The writer-director did something similar with his last film, I’ll See You in My Dreams (2015), in which Blythe Danner’s widow and her elderly friends grapple with autumnal-year anxiety even during the movie’s lighter moments (a major character is set up to figure prominently, only to suddenly shuffle off this mortal coil).

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But what separated that indie from the dozens of other films that revolve around AARP-friendly casts is that it allowed actors like Danner and Elliott, who showed up as a romantic interest, to play their age without getting too codger-cutesy or sentimental-sappy. (Old people … they say the darnedest things!) And while Haley and his co-writer Marc Basch throw in some predictably maudlin moments and/or borderline cliché story beats – may we please retire the geriatric-gone-wild-after-ingesting-narcotics trope? – The Hero is less concerned with easy crowd-pleasing than mounting a showcase for a first-rate character actor. Elliott is usually called on to simply add insta-gravitas via that lower-register croak, channel Zen-unflappable cool or be the living embodiment of male virility. But he can also be foolish, sorrowful, funny, petty and, even with that legendary mustache, can temporarily resemble the world’s sexiest sad-eyed turtle in a certain light.

The point being, the man contains multitudes that are never usually tapped. That changes now. If nothing else, The Hero is a chance for someone who, after a long career in which he’s never hurt for work, finally gets to show you everything he’s capable of in one fell swoop. It’s not perfect, but it is a gift to Sam Elliott – and to us. You may have thought that, with that cowboy-statesman profile, the man had came right off of Mount Rushmore. But watch him turn a single unsure, sizing-up stare at Prepon’s flirty youngster into a symphony and you’ll realize why the man should be considered a pantheon-worthy screen performer. He’s the perfect partner for your cinemagoing. He’s a legend. He’s a great actor, period. Time to start paying more attention to that last part.

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The Hero (I) (2017)

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Film Review: The Hero

Sam Elliott's vulnerable leading turn distinguishes an otherwise tired story of late redemption

Directed by

• Brett Haley
• Sam Elliott
• Krysten Ritter
• Laura Prepon
• Nick Offerman

Release Year

The title of Brett Haley ’s navel-gazing drama The Hero refers to the one film that Lee Hayden ( Sam Elliott ) ever made in which he takes any pride. A classic latter-era Western that made Lee’s gruff, rumbling voice a household fixture, it also sustained his career over the next few decades of unfulfilling roles, diminishing returns, and when The Hero catches up with him, some ridiculous cowpoke-style voiceover work for a barbecue sauce. As Lee’s asked to run lines by an unseen, clearly disinterested producer, he repeats his shill, over and over again, in that slyly commanding voice Elliott does so well. Yet there’s nothing to it. Lee trades on his once-famous persona yet again, gives the audience the only thing they seem to want, and gets halfhearted praise for his troubles.

More of these small incidents would have benefitted The Hero , which as it stands is about fifty years and one cancer diagnosis away from retelling any other rote story about a talented-yet-struggling actor hoping to make it in Hollywood. But it’s also essentially a showcase for Elliott’s considerable latter-era gifts as a performer, and on that basis, it finds a bit more success. Haley, who directed the actor in the modestly touching I’ll See You in My Dreams , takes The Hero as an opportunity to play with Elliott’s iconic purr in ways both grating and affecting. And it’s a testament to Elliott’s sustained charms that a film so rife with frustrating choices as this one works at all.

Lee lives a simple, frequently morose life. He calls his unengaged agent asking if a role has come along, knowing that a real and substantial role hasn’t come around in quite a while. He gets stoned with Jeremy ( Nick Offerman ), an old friend and onetime costar on a short-lived TV series, and contemplates the old days. He attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter Lucy ( Krysten Ritter ), and is met with indifference and the nagging sense that it’s well beyond too late to make amends. Mostly, Lee stands around in a haze of smoke, remembering better times as he becomes more acutely aware of his aging by the day. After a doctor’s appointment confirms that a biopsy found a late-stage cancer in his pancreas, Lee is forced to realize that maybe his big fantasy of a comeback was simply a pipe dream.

But Lee soldiers on. He continues to chase roles. He continues to smoke a lot of pot. And when he meets Charlotte ( Laura Prepon ), he finds a driving purpose like nothing he’s felt in years. As character studies go, The Hero involves an especially pronounced level of aimless wandering, but Haley occasionally finds effective material within it. Most of the film’s best scenes play off the surprisingly effective chemistry between Elliott and Prepon, as an open-mic comedian with the actress’ typically dry, forthcoming sensibilities. Their connection and attraction is immediate, and one of the more interesting decisions in Haley and Marc Basch’s screenplay is the immediate willingness to explore their relationship and the May-December gap that would make it read oddly to most other people.

With his last film and this one, Haley has demonstrated a willingness to grant older characters (and by proxy, their actors) an agency that few filmmakers do. It’s an admirable stance, finding the inner life of characters and performers usually relegated to background roles, but it’s only as good as the film they’re given. With The Hero , Haley struggles to fit all the pieces around his striking lead performance, and the film often struggles to meet Elliott, and even Prepon, who gets more depth out of Charlotte than the role might have allowed otherwise. When they go to a small-time Western tribute to Lee’s career, swigging down a little molly with their champagne, The Hero doesn’t bother to explore the dichotomy between Lee’s fantasies of his career and the reality, or even the possible consequences of a 71-year-old rolling on MDMA. Like much of the film, it’s thrown out there for a handful of minor laughs, and the most meaningful payoff is Lee going viral as the result of a hopped-up speech.

The ambient California score feels like an indie-movie affectation to no ends throughout, and Haley’s recurrent motif of Elliott wandering through dream sequence renditions of his classic movies feels as tacked-on as Lee’s relationship with his daughter, which works through nearly the exact same paces as the same relationship in The Wrestler . While The Hero has its moments of resonance, they’re frequently mired in cliché and a general incuriousness that hangs over much of the film. From Lee’s relationship with his ex-wife to Charlotte delivering an uncharacteristically cruel stand-up set that feels wholly at odds with everything established about her character up to that point, the film often skips through showing its work to hit its expected beats, and it’s a deflating tendency after a while. For a film so concerned with issues of mortality and regret, it doesn’t establish the gravity of either as they relate to Lee in a lasting way.

Yet if The Hero has one ace in its hand that makes it a worthwhile watch, it’s Elliott, who takes the rare opportunity for a leading role to demonstrate a wiry vulnerability that nicely supplements his famous winking stoicism. When he melts down during an audition, or moves Jeremy to tears with a line reading, there are signs of life in Lee that The Hero only seeks out intermittently. It’s odd to see Elliott in a performance that involves him appearing so adrift, but the actor mines Lee’s insecurities for a naked honesty that makes his arguments and apologies alike ring with a lifetime of remorse. It’s a turn so commanding that it’ll leave you wishing that the film was less interested in American indie tropes and more so in the humanity of the performance at its center.

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‘The Hero’ Shines An Overdue Spotlight On Sam Elliott

There are few actors better suited for Westerns than Sam Elliott. Even putting aside a mustache that most men seemingly lost the ability to grow at the end of the Taft administration, Elliott has the weary eyes of a trail-hardened frontiersman and a deep, resonant voice seemingly designed for campfire stories.

So it’s odd to discover, looking at Elliott’s filmography, that it’s not littered with classic Westerns. Elliott had a small role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and a more substantial part in Tombstone , but his most memorable appearances have tended to be as characters who embody elements of the Old West despite never having been a part of it, be it The Stranger in The Big Lebowski , his mentor role in Road House , the T-Rex cattleman in The Good Dinosaur , or his work as a late-run bad guy on Justified . He might still have a great Western in his future — filmmakers looking for ideas, take note — but he’s equally effective acting as a man out of time.

Brett Haley, who directs The Hero and co-wrote the script with Marc Basch, gets that. And for his second film he set out to tailor a film to Elliott’s strengths, and maybe push him a bit further than usual. Elliott plays Lee Hayden, a septuagenarian cowboy star whose steadiest employment comes from voiceover commercial work trading on his on-screen past. As the film opens, we hear him espousing the virtues of Lone Star barbecue sauce (“the perfect partner for your chicken”) before we see him — and the barely contained frustration on his face as he goes through take after take.

It’s no wonder Lee spends most of his days getting high with Jeremy (Nick Offerman), a genial actor-turned-drug dealer with whom he has a long history. With nothing better to do, why not kick back, chill out, and listen to upbeat reggae music while watching Buster Keaton movies?

But a couple of things happen to kick Lee off the couch: He’s approached to receive a lifetime achievement award by the Western Appreciation and Preservation Guild, and he’s diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a tough diagnosis to beat even for someone who’s not entirely sure he has that much to live for. Throw in an ex-wife (played by Katharine Ross, Elliott’s real-life wife), a semi-estranged daughter (Krysten Ritter) and an unexpected new romance with a stand-up comic (Laura Prepon), and you have all the elements of a late-life crisis movie, and much of The Hero doesn’t veer too far from familiar terrain. Lee has to consider the damage he’s caused his family and make amends as he wonders is he has any reason to keep pushing forward. Some big dramatic moments don’t connect and a mid-film sequence in which Lee’s chemically influenced acceptance speech inexplicably goes viral in particular plays like a contrivance. And while it would be nice to report that Elliott and Prepon develop the kind chemistry that makes sense of their May/December romance, they don’t. Instead we get a few lines about how Prepon’s character has always been into older men and some recitations of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry.

Yet for all that doesn’t quite work in The Hero , enough does to make it worth a look. Haley is too comfortable with clichéd set-ups, but he doesn’t have much use for clichéd resolutions, refusing to give Lee an easy way out of his problems. And then there’s Elliott, who we don’t get to see in leading roles and who makes the most of the opportunity here, finding the vulnerability and fear beneath the surface of his cowboy persona. It’s rare that a character actor gets this kind of showcase, and Elliott confirms that he’s more than capable of handling center stage. Hopefully he’ll have more chances in the years to come. (And someone write this man a great Western already.)

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Review: the hero.

Sam Elliott’s calmly affecting performance is overwhelmed by a doggedly conventional screenplay.

With his sonorous voice and trademark horseshoe mustache, Sam Elliott has long been an icon of masculinity, a world-weary figure whose knowing smirk betrays a sly self-awareness beneath his rugged exterior. While he’s often been restricted to splashy but small supporting roles, The Hero casts him in the lead as Lee Hayden, a lonely old actor facing his own mortality after he’s diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Peppered with references to Elliott’s own life and career (it opens on Lee recording a slogan for barbeque sauce in a playful nod to Elliott’s voiceover work for Coors, Ram trucks, and beef), the film has been designed not just as a vehicle for its venerable star, but as a comment on his long and not always auspicious career.

Lee at one point remarks that he’s done only one film he’s really proud of, a western (also called The Hero ) that he made 40 years ago. By building a film entirely around Elliott’s grizzled persona, director Brett Haley attempts to do the same for the actor at the opposite end of his career: to provide a lasting showcase of the full range of his acting abilities. On that score, The Hero is a success, trading on Elliott’s grizzled cowboy persona while allowing him to hit subtler notes of self-doubt and melancholy—and even just plain goofiness in scenes of Lee and his buddy Jeremy (Nick Offerman) sit around smoking weed, eating Chinese, and watching Buster Keaton movies. A scene in which Lee runs lines for a key role in a young-adult sci-fi movie rivals Naomi Watts’s audition scene in Mulholland Drive for show-stopping actorly virtuosity.

Unfortunately, Elliott’s calmly affecting performance is overwhelmed by a doggedly conventional screenplay that often plays like end-of-life wish-fulfillment fantasy. The film not only allows Lee the chance to make amends with his estranged daughter, Lucy (Krysten Ritter), and ex-wife, Valarie (Elliott’s real-life spouse Katharine Ross), it also pairs him with a much younger love interest, Charlotte (Laura Prepon), who serves as a kind of surrogate daughter and wife rolled into one. An Edna St. Vincent Millay-quoting stand-up comedian with a thing for older guys, Charlotte is a too-cute contrivance who exists only to serve Lee’s needs. Languorous dream sequences of Lee on the set of a western and Zen-like pillow shots of L.A. traffic and crashing waves suggest a more mysterious and contemplative film struggling to break through the script’s run-of-the-mill plot complications and soppy emotional resolutions. Rather than truly probing the film’s potentially resonant themes of fame and mortality, Daley drowns them in canned sentimentality.

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A review of “Unsung Hero”

“Unsung Hero,” a movie written and directed by Richard L. Ramsey and Joel Smallbone, presents a story marked by its eternal and familial significance. This movie is based on a true story that explores the importance of faith and love.   

The heart of any compelling story is its characters, and the “Unsung Hero” movie expertly portrays the love and raw emotion shared between real people.  

The film centers around the lives of the Smallbone family. The family unit made up of parents, David and Helen, and their six children, who happen to be the now famous Christian singers Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone and Rebecca Smallbone (better known as For King and Country and the solo artist Rebecca St. James). Despite three of the story’s main characters rising to celebrity status, the essence of the story is incredibly ordinary.  

The movie begins in 1991, as Christian concert promoter, David Smallbone, works to book star singer, Amy Grant, for a tour in Australia. While focused on work, David sends his family into a state of financial ruin, forcing them to move to America. After arriving in the United States, economic strife and a constant stream of obstacles, forces the entire family to band together.   

The theme of the movie is perhaps best stated in the film by the character of David Smallbone’s father, “Family’s not in the way — they are the way.”   

This movie presents a deeply grounding and refreshing perspective on our lives and the importance of connection. “Unsung Hero” is a valuable movie that serves as a reminder to never overlook the ordinary gifts in life because they are the colors which paint our world most vibrant.  

Watch “Unsung Hero” on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and more with a subscription.   

Callaghan is an arts and culture reporter. 

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Screen Rant

My hero academia's final chapter confirms the story's true greatest hero, & it isn't who fans would expect.

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My Hero Academia's Finale Subtly Confirmed Deku and Ochaco's Relationship in the Best Way

"a balance point": my hero academia's creator has one genius way he balances the series' darker moments, my hero academia's ending has one big problem: it completely ignores the series' message.

Warning: Contains spoilers for My Hero Academia chapter #430!! With everything that happened in the final arc of My Hero Academia , a big question that needed to be addressed was who would end the story as the greatest hero. Much of the final saga has been about how the world needs to move away from relying solely on a select few people, but with the world still being a world of heroes, someone still needs to be on top.

My Hero Academia ’s final chapter left many questions about the story unanswered, but it did address the issue of who would be regarded as the story’s greatest hero at the end of everything. Following an eight-year timeskip, Izuku and his friends are all held in high regard by the public, but even with that, My Hero Academia ended with someone outside of Izuku and his friends being regarded as the greatest hero .

Said character had always been built up to become a great hero, though, so seeing this is the perfect payoff to their arc from the past few years.

Mirio Completes His Arc Of Succeeding All Might As The Greatest Hero

My hero academia's new top-ranked hero.

In the final chapter of My Hero Academia , Izuku and Aizawa discussed the current hero rankings and how Izuku’s friends have been doing in them, and the best of them turned out to be none other than Mirio Togata . While Mirio, himself, didn’t appear, Izuku mentioned that Mirio was at the top of the rankings, meaning that My Hero Academia ended with Mirio as the greatest hero in Japan . The hero ranking isn’t structured the way it used to be, and it’s offhandedly mentioned that other people are catching up to Mirio, but it’s a great showing for him, nonetheless.

With Mirio becoming the top-ranked hero at the end of the story, the character arc stemming from his introduction comes full circle. Mirio existed as a parallel to Izuku thanks to his admiration of All Might and his embodying of All Might’s ideals, and in the later arcs, he struggled to find a way to keep up with others and be the hero everyone kept saying he could be. Because of that, Mirio becoming the top-ranked hero finally completes his arc of becoming a hero like All Might , and overall, it’s a great note for his character to end on.

Why Mirio Being The Top-Ranked Hero Is Perfect For My Hero Academia’s Ending

Through everything, mirio was a beacon of light in my hero academia.

As unexpected as it might be for Mirio to be the top-ranked hero, it’s perfectly fitting for the story’s ending. For starters, even if the world of My Hero Academia has changed, whoever ranks as the highest-ranked hero should still be someone with the kind of strength and charismatic personality that made All Might be seen as such a tremendous force for good for so many years. Mirio has embodied All Might’s ideals and appeal from the moment he debuted , so with Izuku spending so many years in retirement, there was no better person to become the top-ranked hero.

Mirio being the top-ranked hero also plays into the idea of heroes changing how they operate in society for the better. Izuku or another major character being the top-ranked hero could have undermined the themes of the final arc by keeping things centered around the main characters, and as such, Mirio being the top-ranked hero supports the idea of My Hero Academia ’s world changing to one where anyone can be a hero . Mirio being the top-ranked hero was a great addition to My Hero Academia ’s ending, and it was the best way the series could have closed out his character.

My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as "Quirks" are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn't so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan's greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.

10 Best Superhero Movies Since 2020, Ranked

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After the massive global success of Avengers: Endgame , many fans were excited about the future of superhero movies . However, with the new decade, the superhero genre was greeted with many obstacles. A major problem was COVID-19's effect on filming and Box Office returns, which took many years to resolve, as well as the superhero movie fatigue that began with the various releases of the MCU's Phase Four. With both Marvel and the DCEU releasing numerous projects at the beginning of the decade, the hype around superhero movies began to waver.

However, there are some superhero movies that have managed to work in this new era. Both Marvel and DC have managed to produce projects that got people to go to the cinema and kept the superhero genre standing. With over twenty high-budget superhero movies being released since 2020, ten films stood out as examples of great entries in the superhero genre.

10 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Was a Fresh Origin Story

The film managed to use the mcu formula in a dynamic way.

The sixth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 4, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings managed to make a new origin story fun and fresh. The film follows Simu Liu in the titular role, searching for a mythical village with his sister while dealing with the evil Ten Rings organization led by his father, Wenwu. Other highlights in the cast include Awkwafina as Katy, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Wenwu, and Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan.

Like the origin films of the MCU's first Phase, Marvel highlighted a less popular superhero from Marvel Comics and introduced them to a mainstream audience. While the film didn't avoid the MCU formula, it managed to feel fresh and new, expanding the lore of the MCU in an interesting way. The film's success promised a sequel, though very minimal news has been revealed concerning its development.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the 26th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Simu Liu plays Shaun (Aka Shang-Chi), a valet living and working in San Francisco, along with his friend Katy (Awkwafina), when one day, his past comes knocking back at his door. To protect himself and Katy, Shaun reveals himself to be Shang-Chi and his lineage, with his father being the actual "Mandarin," the leader of the Ten Rings criminal organization. His father is now reaching out to him, and his estranged sister and Shaun must head back to China to save his sister and figure out his father's true motivations. Shang-Chi was one of the first films in the fourth phase of the MCU.

9 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Highlighted Two Popular Marvel Characters

The film took a darker approach to an mcu movie.

With the success of Avengers: Endgame , the MCU wondered what would bring in audiences to the cinemas. The multiverse was a wise decision, with fans filling theater seats in the hopes of seeing fun cameos of variants. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness managed to deliver fun variant cameos while also telling an interesting story.

Following the success of WandaVision , Multiverse of Madness reintroduced Wanda Maximoff after the events of her solo series, with her as a compelling villain trying to exploit America Chavez's universe-hopping abilities to find her sons and Doctor Strange protecting her. The film gave Doctor Strange an interesting arc post- Endgame and also gave some resolution to Wanda after the loss of her family at the end of WandaVisio n.

Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness

Benedict Cumberbatch's Master of the Mystic Arts returns in Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

8 The Suicide Squad Was a Standalone Sequel

The film improved on 2016's suicide squad.

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Director David Ayer explains why his original cut of Suicide Squad offers a vastly different and superior experience.

After the disappointment of 2016's Suicide Squad , many fans kept their expectations low with 2021's The Suicide Squad sequel. While the film is considered a sequel, it is mostly a standalone, with some characters being carried over. The film took what worked with the 2016 film and expanded on it, highlighting characters like Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and introducing new, interesting characters.

Directed by James Gunn, the film maintained the gritty nature and dark comedic tone of the first film while delivering a new, interesting story. The film had an all-star cast, including Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, and John Cena as Peacemaker, who eventually went on to star in his own TV series. While the film's Box Office returns were low, the film is generally well-regarded by fans and critics, becoming somewhat of a cult classic.

The Suicide Squad

Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

7 The Batman Was a Compelling Murder Mystery

The batman was the best portrayal of the character in years.

The Batman is easily the best depiction of the Caped Crusader since the Dark Knight trilogy. The film focuses on Bruce Wayne in his early career as a vigilante, investigating the mysterious murders of the Gotham elite. The film is incredibly well-made, with its storytelling, cinematography, and tone.

The film provides a genuinely good murder-mystery plot, highlighting the Riddler in a new tone for the character. Robert Pattinson gives a compelling, nuanced performance of a broken Bruce Wayne early in his Dark Knight career. Zoe Kravtiz's portrayal of Catwoman was also praised, as well as Colin Farrell's Penguin, who is receiving his own spin-off series on Max.

A vigilante in Gotham City delves into the criminal underworld after a series of sadistic games and cryptic clues emerge. As he uncovers corruption that entwines the city's elites and criminal figures, his quest for justice brings him into direct conflict with an enigmatic foe who has a broader plan for chaos.

6 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Was a Great Ending to the Trilogy

James gunn's final mcu film gave a satisfying conclusion.

Despite being released at the peak of the superhero fatigue era, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a great film and served as the perfect, bittersweet ending to the trilogy. The film was James Gunn's final MCU project and provided satisfying closure to the Guardians' story arc. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 followed the Guardians on a mission to save Rocket Racoon while dealing with the threat of the High Evolutionary.

The film did a great job at exploring the backstory of Rocket, managing to tell a heartbreaking story in a generally comedic film. The movie also provided an interesting arc for Peter Quill after the loss of Gamora. The introduction of Adam Warlock was welcomed by fans, who are excited to see what's next for the new Guardians team established in the film's final moments.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.

5 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Was Powerfully Emotional

The film both furthered the story and honored chadwick boseman.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most important cinematic franchise of the modern era, and it's produced some of the highest-grossing movies ever.

The sequel to Black Panther had a lot of obstacles as many fans wondered how the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman would be handled in the film. In a good decision, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever honored Boseman and his portrayal of T'Challa, with the characters dealing with the loss of their friend and hero. The film followed Shuri grieving for her brother, and her journey in taking up the mantle of Black Panther.

The film is incredibly emotional, with many of the cast giving stellar performances, particularly Angela Basset. The film also did a good job at introducing Riri Williams as Ironheart, who will be starring in their own series on Disney+. The action of the film was tense, with the introduction of Namor as the villain pushing its hero to her limits.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

4 zack snyder's justice league's was much better than the theatrical version, the snyder cut campaign saw the release of the original version of justice league.

After the disappointment of 2017's Justice League , which was mostly directed by Joss Whedon after the departure of Zack Snyder, fans campaigned all over social media for the Snyder Cut to be released. After four years, the Snyder cut was finally released on Max in 2021 and was greeted with much better critical and audience response. The film managed to take the footage used in the theatrical cut, as well as hours of cut footage, to put together a much more interesting and compelling version of the same events.

The film is rather long, with a runtime of four hours and two minutes, allowing plenty of time for the complex story. The film did justice to the characters and the original tone, while Whedon's version was more comedic in the spirit of the Avengers films. The Snyder Cut established a better story for the villains, including Darkseid and Steppenwolf.

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Director Zack Snyder's initial vision for Justice League follows Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) as they battle to prevent the forces of New God Steppenwolf from conquering Earth. The Snyder cut of the film differs significantly from the theatrically released original, including numerous additional story elements and sequences that were later cut from the film. 

3 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Is a Modern Masterpiece

The animated feature was a great sequel.

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After the massive success of 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Vers e, fans were excited to see what the sequel would deliver. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse delivered an incredible film, both in its story and visuals. The film follows Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy on a multiversal adventure, meeting variants from across the multiverse while also dealing with the threat of a new villain.

The film is a masterpiece of animation, with each frame perfectly portraying a visually interesting, dynamic universe. The film featured great performances from its voice cast, including Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya and Issa Rae. The film saw massive audience and critical acclaim, being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Miles Morales returns in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. With his identity still safe but  "grounded" by his parents, Miles Morales is visited by his friend from another dimension, Gwen Stacy. Inviting him on a new adventure, Miles jumps at the opportunity but is seemingly accosted by an unknown assailant on his journey. Miles and Gwen will unite with new and old Spider-Heroes to face a villain of immeasurable power.

2 Deadpool & Wolverine Brought the Fox Characters Into the MCU

Deadpool & wolverine was a fun ride.

When Disney bought out Fox and the production rights to their Marvel heroes, many wondered how Deadpool would be carried over into the MCU. Fans were pleased with Deadpool & Wolverine , which has managed to gross over a billion at the Box Office in its theatrical run. The film follows Deadpool teaming up with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in his first appearance since 2017's Logan .

The film is a fun ride throughout, following the duo as they are sent to the multiverse's Void, where they come across some interesting characters. Fans loved seeing all the variant cameos , including Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Channing Tatum as Gambit, Jennifer Garner as Elektra, and Wesley Snipes as Blade. The highlight of the film was the return of Daphne Keen as X-23, with the film serving as a continuation of the character's story from her debut in Logan .

Deadpool & Wolverine

Wolverine joins the "merc with a mouth" in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.

1 Spider-Man: No Way Home Was an Event Film

The third mcu spider-man film was a massive success.

The MCU was in a rough patch following the success of Endgame . However, Spider-Man: No Way Hom e was a massive success, reaching over a billion at the Box Office. The film was the first MCU event film since Endgame , with audiences coming to the theater to see the surprises that had social media buzzing.

The reintroduction of the Sinister Six as variants from the previous Spider-Man iterations gave some great fanservice. However, the highlight was clearly the inclusion of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The success of the film has left fans desperate for more, hoping to see Maguire and Garfield reprise their variant roles in Avengers: Secret Wars .

Spider-Man: No Way Home

With Spider-Man's identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

My Father The Hero

A Frenchman, who hasn’t seen his American-born 14-year-old daughter in several years, takes her on “the vacation of a lifetime” to the Caribbean. Her heart is besieged by a fellow tourist, a 17-year-old boy whose family has a villa on the island. Embarrassed to admit she’s only 14 and on vacation with her father, she introduces her parent as “ Andre ,” and later explains he is her lover.

By way of helpful additional information, she confides that her father is in jail, her mother is a prostitute, and Andre rescued her from a life of depravity on the streets.

Of course this gossip races like wildfire through the tourist community, and before long everyone in the resort is treating Andre like a pervert. He doesn’t understand why for the longest time – weeks and weeks, it feels like.

Because “My Father the Hero” stars Gerard Depardieu , the leading actor in France, it has more interest than it might have otherwise. Depardieu is large, stocky and shambling, wears his hair like a mop and has a nose that looks as if it’s been in a few fights.

And he is charming. His daughter is played by the sweet and pretty Katherine Heigl , and her teenage boyfriend is the Kennedyesque Dalton James .

A movie like this depends on the tried and true rules of farce, including: (1) People must always overhear what the plot requires them to overhear, but nothing else; (2) Dialogue must be carefully constructed to mean one thing if you’re in on the secret, and another thing if you’re not; (3) The two “rival lovers” must sooner or later have a showdown; and (4) The farcical situation must result in a series of crises.

“My Father the Hero” is particularly awkward when it comes to the fourth category. Angered that the girl of his dreams is being ravished by an unscrupulous older man, the teenager takes Depardieu on a wild water-ski ride, where Depardieu, at top speeds, narrowly misses rocks, low ropes, large freighters, etc., while hanging on for his life. The possibility that he could simply let go of the rope does not occur to him. Later, the teenage daughter goes windsurfing and gets into “danger,” which means she bangs into a rock not far from shore.

Uninjured, could easily hold onto it for hours – or even sit on it, if she wants to. Instead, she screams for help, and her father and boyfriend both brave the waves to rescue her, with inevitable results.

It’s amusing, watching a movie like this, to observe the clangingly false notes. The teenage boy lives with his parents in a seaside villa, from which the father emerges only to utter lines necessary to the plot; the rest of the time, he hears and sees nothing, even when the girl ties a love letter to a rock and throws it through his son’s (closed) window.

“My Father the Hero” has at least one very funny scene, when Depardieu, at the local amateur night, has the misfortune to choose as his song “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” There are also some good free-standing lines, as when a group of horny tourists are described as “the men that God forgot.” If Depardieu seems right at home in “My Father the Hero,” perhaps that is because only two years ago he made a French film called “Mon Pere, Ce Heros,” with exactly the same plot. I saw it, and would say it was more or less exactly as appealing as this English version. Once was a time when Hollywood would buy the rights to French hits (“Three Men and a Cradle”) and remake them. Now they buy the recycling rights as soon as the original is released, and hold it out of the American market, which in this case was no great loss.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Gerard Depardieu as Andre
• Katherine Heigl as Nicole
• Dalton James as Ben

Directed by

• Steve Miner

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‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Review – Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga Enchant in Todd Phillips’ Deranged Sequel | Venice 2024

The highly anticipated sequel to Joker (2019) is as deranged and exciting as you would have hoped. By incorporating song and dance in the vein of a jukebox musical , filmmaker Todd Philips (also known for The Hangover trilogy) gives Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker a different kind of strut, one that’s more meditative and less violent than what would be expected from the sequel to one of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time . Nothing will compare to the original 2019 phenomenon, but Joker: Folie à Deux does an exceptional job at following up with an imaginative comic book film unlike any other.

Joker: Folie à Deux picks the story up with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital. He lives a repetitive life as he struggles with his infamous dual identity as “The Joker,” constantly being teased by fellow patients to make them laugh. Everything changes for Arthur when he meets his true love, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga). The two become infatuated with each other after meeting in a singing class at Arkham. Music and singing become a huge part of their love language as Arthur goes on trial for the murders he committed (as seen in the first film), which is put on a live television broadcast for the whole world to see.

While on trial, Arthur is reunited with familiar faces like Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill), who testifies to what he was like before he became the Joker. The overall testimony is persuasive and sincere to Arthur’s previous pathetic life, which ironically paints him in a terrible light that will almost certainly lead to him being sentenced for murder. As the “Trial of the century” continues, Joker’s supporters gather in the thousands outside the Gotham City courthouse. Whatever happens, it’s made clear that Joker’s influence will live on, having impacted so many everyday Gotham citizens who are disillusioned by society. What ensues is a musical misadventure that walks the line between reality and fantasy.

Opening with a classic Looney Tunes -inspired animated sequence, Arthur faces off with his shadow, an alternate personality that takes center stage as he sings Tom Jones ‘ “What the World Needs Now Is Love” on his own Murray Franklin-type show. It’s a fantastic opening that foreshadows the plot’s main focus on Joker’s split personality. Writer-director Todd Phillips doesn’t try to one-up the first Joker but rather tries to expand the audience’s understanding of Arthur’s mental state, offering a closer, more personal look at the protagonist. It sidelines the thrills of the first movie for musical numbers that express Joker and Harley’s emotions beyond what words would have been able to communicate. It’s a much-welcomed surprise to see a studio franchise film, based on DC Comics so less, care so little for genre conventions.

Apart from focusing on a singular hefty theme, the musical numbers in Joker: Folie à Deux are well-performed and incredibly entertaining. Most of them fit into the narrative structure of Todd Phillips’ script, which is once again co-written by Scott Silver ( The Fighter , 8 Mile ). Everything moves along at a smooth pace, and the two-plus hour runtime is rarely felt. Seeing Joker and Harley Quinn belting out their hearts is not something that DC fans would have ever expected to see in an adaptation like this. However, it’s a joy to watch this absurd take on the iconic DC villains, especially when the story takes a break from their cruel reality. Whether it’s the two lovers dancing on a Gotham rooftop under the moonlight or a dream-like fantasy of them getting married, Joker and Harley’s shared delusion and infatuation for each other is chaotically charming.

Joaquin Phoenix’s return as Joker feels like no time has passed, delivering another Oscar-worthy performance. This time, Phoenix is asked to do much more with the addition of singing and dancing, yet he still embodies the character’s disturbed personality to perfection. Phoenix wears Joker’s skin, embracing the struggles and moments of madness once again. Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series , Harley Quinn returns to the big screen with popstar-turned-actress Lady Gaga filling the shoes. Gaga is an understated, less psychotic version of Harley that aptly fits this film’s tone. Naturally, Gaga shines in the sequel’s musical sequences, which will leave many viewers obsessed with the selected songs. Not including any original music (apart from the score) in the vein of a jukebox musical was the right choice, as the duo pulls these tunes from their own twisted realities living in Gotham City.

Returning cinematographer Lawrence Sher beautifully lights and lenses Joker: Folie a Deux , capturing the fantastical numbers and Gotham’s griminess to great effect. Sher utilizes deep focus to isolate Phoenix’s Joker as he wrestles with his tragic existence while lighting most scenes with contrasting teals and oranges. The world of Joker: Folie à Deux is just as visually rich as the original, aided by Oscar-winner Hildur Guðnadóttir ‘s haunting orchestral score that breathes new life into the titular character. As aforementioned, the screenplay is more restrained and less sensationalist than its predecessor, which works well with the themes at hand. Despite how controversial the musical elements may be and how less “thrilling” it is compared to 2019’s Joker , it’s better that the filmmakers chose to take a creative swing rather than be safe. Otherwise, this would’ve just been another sequel. Instead, Joker: Folie a Deux is an entirely unique anti-hero film.

Joker: Folie à Deux is an enchanting follow-up that boasts some bold risks and surprise twists that will leave fans speculating for days. It ends in a satisfying way that teases a potential future while highlighting the effect that Joker had on society in the original film. There will undoubtedly be a lot of awards chatter as Joker: Folie à Deux is superbly made by a range of top creatives with two excellent performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Love it or hate it, it’s looking like this one-of-a-kind interpretation of Joker and Harley Quinn’s romance will have a tight grip on the public zeitgeist for the foreseeable future.

Joker: Folie à Deux premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. The film hits theaters on October 4!

Release Date: October 4, 2024. Directed by Todd Phillips. Written by Scott Silver & Todd Phillips. Based on characters by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Bruce Timm, & Paul Dini. Produced by Todd Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, & Joseph Garner. Executive Producers: Scott Silver, Jason Ruder, Mark Friedberg, Georgia Kacandes, & Michael E. Uslan. Main Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Harry Lawtey, Steve Coogan, Leigh Gill, Sharon Washington, Jacob Lofland, & Ken Leung. Cinematographer: Lawrence Sher. Composer: Hildur Guðnadóttir. Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, & Joint Effort. Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures. Runtime: 138 minutes. Rated R.

DiscussingFilm's Senior Film Critic, Ben Rolph, loves to review films, ranging from indies to blockbusters. He loves musicals, horror, and indies among a broad range of other genres. Also, Ben is the Chairman and Founder of the DiscussingFilm Critic Awards. In his spare time, Ben’s watching DCTV shows and going on about Melissa Benoist, Chris Wood, and Grant Gustin. Follow him here: @thedctvshow

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