| Hero | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Stephen Frears |
| Screenplay by | David Webb Peoples |
| Story by |
|
| Produced by | Laura Ziskin |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Oliver Stapleton |
| Edited by | Mick Audsley |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 112 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $42 million[2] |
| Box office | $67 million[2] |
Hero (released in theUnited Kingdom, theRepublic of Ireland andAustralia asAccidental Hero) is a 1992 Americancomedy-drama film directed byStephen Frears. It was written byDavid Webb Peoples, from a story written by Peoples,Laura Ziskin andAlvin Sargent, and starsDustin Hoffman,Geena Davis,Andy García, andJoan Cusack. FollowingThe Grifters (1990), it was the second American feature film by British filmmaker Frears.
Bernie LaPlante is apickpocket and petty criminal who anonymously rescues survivors, including TV reporter Gale Gayley, at anairplane crash. At the same time, he also steals her purse, losing a shoe in the process. After his car breaks down, he flags down John Bubber, a homelessVietnam War veteran, and tells him about the rescue at the crash site, giving him his remaining shoe. When Gale's television station news director, Deke, offers $1 million to the "Angel of Flight 104", Bernie realizes he can't claim the reward, due to his arrest whilefencing credit cards he stole from the people he rescued. John contacts Gale, recounting Bernie's tale of the rescue, and provides the single shoe to take credit for the selfless act.
When Bernie tries to tell people that John is a fake, the media, after sensationalizing his heroic image, will not believe him. He is released from jail, and his lawyer, Donna O'Day, informs him that he will be heading to prison soon because of the stolen goods he carried in his apartment. Gale, as one of the crash survivors, considers herself to be in John's debt, and soon grooms his public image. She finds herself falling in love with him, even though she has questions about his authenticity. Despite his reluctant acceptance of his fame, he turns out to be a decent person, using his fame and reward money to help sick children and the homeless.
John finds himself in an ethical dilemma, as his persona is inspirational to countless people. Meanwhile, Bernie continues to aggravate his ex-wife, Evelyn, and fails to bond with their son, Joey, who is now enamored with John. He begins to feel that if Joey is going to idolize anyone, perhaps John is the better choice.
Inspector Dayton, a police detective, tells Gale her credit cards were recovered during Bernie's arrest. She and her cameraman, Chucky, break into Bernie's apartment with the help of Winston, the landlord. While searching for evidence to incriminate him, Gale finds a stolen Silver Microphone Award she won in New York City the night before the crash. He arrives, only to be confronted by her, as she speculates that John stole her purse in a moment of weakness during the rescue, sold it to Bernie, and accuses him of attempting to now blackmail John. They are interrupted by Winston, who says John is on television, about to commit suicide by jumping from the ledge of a high-rise skyscraper.
Gale rushes to the scene and brings Bernie along, threatening to have him prosecuted if John jumps to his death. She demands he apologize for the attempted blackmail. Evelyn and Joey rush there as well, with Evelyn reminiscing how Bernie is selfish and cynical, but always becomes a great person in a crisis. He goes out on the ledge, hatching a scheme to milk the media attention for all its worth. He convinces John that the world needs a hero, and that he is clearly the right one for the job, although he does negotiate a discreet share of the $1 million to pay for Joey's college tuition, as well as a letter to Judge Goines to put in a good word for him to suspend his prison sentence. When Bernie slips off the ledge, John grabs him and pulls him to safety, a (true) hero once more. When Gale sees his face covered with dirt, as on the night of the crash, she realizes it was he who saved her. She confronts him "off the record" with her supposition, but he insists that John was the hero.
As Gale leaves, she thanks Bernie for saving her life. He reflexively replies, "You're welcome." She tells him to tell Joey the truth. John agrees to continue playing the part of public hero. While on an excursion to the zoo, Bernie decides to tell Joey the true story of the crash. After he does so, a lady cries out that her daughter has fallen into the lion's cage. Joey pleads with him to help, to which he sighs, slips off his shoes, and heads off to see what he can do.
Several prominent performers appear uncredited, most prominently Chevy Chase as Deke, the Channel 4 news director. Edward Herrmann appears as suicide victim Jeffrey Broadman, Barney Martin appears as De Taglio, a court official, Jeff Garlin appears as a news vendor and Fisher Stevens appears as a Channel 4 director.[3]
Principal photography on the film began shooting October 30, 1991, inChicago with studio work atSony Pictures Studios inCulver City, California, andLos Angeles, California, along with the crash scene on-location inPiru, California.[5] Filming wrapped March 20, 1992.[6]
The colossal staging of a crashedBoeing 727 airplane in December 1991 involved creating a complete location set in Piru, California.[7] The derelict fuselage was blown up over a bridge and a recreated river and river bed. After the failure of the first explosion, a second rigged explosive realistically recreated the crash scene in which the plane is torn apart.[5]
Epic Records approachedMariah Carey to record a song for the film's soundtrack but her then-fiancé and CEO ofSony Music EntertainmentTommy Mottola did not want Carey doing anything associated with film at the time, thinking it would harm her career.[8] Carey's labelColumbia Records also did not want Carey appearing on an album from another label, despite it being released by a branch of their parent companySony.[9] Instead, Carey agreed to write a song for the film intended to be recorded byGloria Estefan.[9] Carey andWalter Afanasieff then wrote the song "Hero" but after completing the demo, it was decided that she would keep the song for her albumMusic Box, with some of the lyrics rewritten.[9]Luther Vandross wrote, produced and performed the song "Heart of a Hero" for the film's soundtrack instead, which featured members of theLos Angeles Children's Chorus.[9]
Hail the Conquering Hero is a film with a similar theme byPreston Sturges. Many reviewers referred to the obvious similarities betweenHero and Sturges'sscrewball comedies.[10] The classicFrank Capra filmMeet John Doe was also cited as a model forLaura Ziskin, who both produced and supplied the story forHero.[11]
In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $19.5 million.[12] Internationally, it grossed $47 million,[13] for a worldwide total of $67 million. Columbia lost $25.6 million on the film.[14]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 67% rating, based on 21 reviews.[15] OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[16] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.[17]
Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times wrote, "Haphazard and erratic, involving only in fits and starts,Hero's core is nevertheless so shrewdly and gleefully cynical about public heroism and the cult of celebrity it is impossible not to be at least sporadically amused and entertained."[11]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times noted, "It has all the ingredients for a terrific entertainment, but it lingers over the kinds of details that belong in a different kind of movie. It comes out of the tradition of those rat-a-tat Preston Sturges comedies of the 1940s, and whenChevy Chase, as a wise-guy TV boss, barks orders into a phone, it finds the right note."[18]
Desson Howe ofThe Washington Post said, "If a hero is one who perseveres and never gives up, this is oneHero that should have quit when it was ahead."[4]
The film debuted at number 3 in the U.S. home media market.[19] It was released onVHS April 15, 1993. Another version presented in widescreen was also released on VHS.
ADVD was released May 25, 1999, and was re-released in 2004 bySony Pictures. Special features for the 1999 DVD included liner notes and theatrical trailers. The 1999 DVD was also a double-sided disc, presented inwidescreen (side A) andfullscreen (side B). The only special feature for the 2004 DVD includes theatrical trailers, and was presented only in fullscreen. Mill Creek Entertainment also picked up the DVD distribution rights for the film.
The DVD was released again in 2012 with no special features, and presented in widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1:85.[20]
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