The Hero

"The Hero" is by far Sam Elliot's best acting performance ever. It is heartfelt and real throughout the movie.

The other actors were good and able to keep the movie going throughout.

The plot was also interesting and had a couple of twists that I did not see coming. (Who was hanged? And the painful stand-up comedy routine.)

This is a slow movie with a story. It's not an action thriller so get some popcorn and a drink, sit back, relax and watch it.

My question is the timing of the release. This is an adult, drama and should have been released after school starts. That would put it at the end of the year and closer to Academy Awards time.

I believe Sam Elliot will and should get a nomination for Best Actor.

A fine little movie with a great cast and a superb tone of melancholy. A little love story, aging, death, loneliness, reconciliation, and the trial about one's life's achievements - The Hero is a quiet movie with all the great themes of human existence. Sam Elliot plays the lead just exquisite and convincing, and the performances of his side-kicks Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter and Nick Offerman give him a lot to work with and the right canvas for his play. The Hero is an emotional, sad and contemplative movie with some bright spots and fine humor refined with some poetic works by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Alone the reading of the poem Dirge Without Music by Laura Prepon at the end of the movie... A movie for a mature audience.

Don't worry, I won't spoil the ending, but it was not what I wanted. The movie was packed with emotion. You really had to pay attention so you could get plugged in with the characters. I don't mind that, but the ending....ugh.

Director Brett Haley once again joins writing forces with Marc Basch (both of "I'll See You in My Dreams" - 2015) to present a LA based story that feels current, plausible and welcoming. Ruggedly handsome and gruff toned Sam Elliott ("Grace and Frankie") is Lee Hayden, an actor past his prime now doing quirky VoiceOvers and smoking pot and drinking with his former actor co-star Jeremy (the always enjoyable Nick Offerman "Parks and Recreation"). When fellow pot-head Charlotte (another TV favorite Laura Prepon "That 70's Show) appears on the scene, her unique love affair with Lee pushes him to face some important life decisions, including his relationship with estranged daughter Lucy (the beautiful Krysten Ritter - TV's "Jessica Jones") and his Ex Valerie (one of my favorites Katharine Ross - "Donnie Darko" - 2001: a film I was also in!). I love when a director welcomes familiar character actors to join a film, and here Doug Cox, Max Gail, Patrika Darbo, Cameron Esposito and Christopher May are a welcomed infusion to the story. "The Hero" is a sound film with good storytelling, presented at a time when summer animation, CGI and explosion films are seeking your movie going dollar.

Lifetime character actor Sam Elliott was born to play this part, or perhaps this film was written specifically for Sam Elliott. Whatever the case, the big screen's most famous moustache finally lands a career changing role as a septuagenarian.

Once, and only once, Lee Hayden was a big screen cowboy presence. Now, now he gets by with voice overs for barbecue sauce. But oh what a voice. Real life parallels abound: Elliott is best known for small cameos, TV and commercial work, but is still a much loved and recognized celebrity.

As the ticker is about to roll 72, Hayden is given some terminally awful news, giving the ol' coot some pause to ponder a stalled career and failed family life. A December - May romance gets the ball rolling, as our hero sets out to make some amends.

What could have been a terribly sappy piece of fluff, is actually a lovely paced rumination on the very complicated topic of existence, with a wonderful, understated, and vulnerable performance from Elliott: Hollywood's new leading man.

Warning: guns are drawn, and poetry is read.