American Hero

Adding a bit of diversity to the Superhero movie genre is American Hero.

Stephen Dorff is cast perfectly as a mundane style superhero. A man blessed with gifts that make him special, but too nihilistic to use his powers for anything pass doing some simple parlor tricks to get money for drugs booze and girls, but like a page out of a Marvel comic, a near death experience clears his head, allowing him to become focus on the responsibility of becoming the man his son needs him to be.

Two things that make this movie impressive:

One was the outstanding performance by Eddie Griffith as a war hero who lives life in a wheelchair. The way his life parallels that of Stephen Dorff's character, a man who has everything but does nothing, was emotionally captivating in a film you would not expect this in. It was so real and natural, it was hard to believe Griffith can walk. It may seem too high praise to say it's Oscar worthy, but it was, and it's too bad they don't even consider giving out the trophy on a flick like this.

Second was the back drop of the big easy. New Orleans set the tone perfectly for American Hero, because it's one of those places in America that really could use a man with gifts like the main character and he's barely touching the surface of his potential.

The one thing that keeps American Hero from being amazing is the documentary style it's formatted in. It's not that I'm sick and tired of the format (but I am), the gimmick feels like just that, a gimmick and it takes away from the story because it's very inconsistent. I guess it was done to make us feel like we are part of the story by making us feel we are shooting the American Hero's life but Dorff's performance was too close to what the average person would do if they had superpowers that we did not need that extra push. It's one of those things that just tells you the time and the place this movie was made, like bell bottoms or baggy paints, and stops it from becoming timeless.

With that said, I do feel that American Hero has potential to be the type of film nerds will be talking about in the aftermath of the Superhero genre with the praise of a hidden gem among them.

Been fans of them since the 90's I also watched to see parts of New Orleans which I did recognize lol I do love it there and can't wait to go back. So so movie at least it don't look like it was filmed with a potato.

It's a very decent movie but it's NØT really about superheroes. It's about the life of a self proclaimed drug addicted, lazy A-hole who happens to have telekinesis.

That's the story of my life, as it is for many. "I could quit bad habits and write a novel, but I'm stuck in my couch watching other peoples dream instead, as the years go by." I'm going to show this movie to my young neighbour following the same path: "I'll be an astronaut one day, but right now, I'll just have a joint in the bath tub." Steven Dorff is great in this role: sincere and sober (his acting, not the character). He is highly credible as a drunk cokehead and pothead. The realism is reinforced by the handshake camera and a couple of winks at the cameraman. I'm a fan of inclusions of supernatural into a realistic story: a movie is a fiction, so why being limited by the lows of physics? On the other hand, when a movie starts talking supernatural, it usually becomes a central point, leaving the characters soulless. Making digressions from a realistic comedy into a magical world is not common, except in some Latin American movies. They are often misunderstood by the viewers, as they aren't complying to knows standards. When lows of physics are breached to serve the story, I find it perfectly acceptable. Aren't teleportation, flying and telekinesis common in night dreams?

I saw the trailer on youtube and I'm a bit of a sucker for indie superhero movies though there have only ended up being a couple good ones. Before I recommend this one I have to really recommend Special(2006) with Michael Rapaport. Its probably the ultimate superhero movie on a budget. The comparison with this is that both of these have figured out that if you can force people to make a connection with the hero in question budget becomes quite secondary.

On the surface there's a lot of reasons not to like this movie and give it a pass. There's not really a story at all. No climactic ending, the characters are all derelicts with no ambition of nobility. Not even any real charisma.

Its basically a movie where we follow some poor white/black people around what appears to be new Orleans with a camera. They go through some good and bad times ultimately with a semi-cathartic ending.

I grew up in Germantown a ghetto of Louisville Ky. Everybody you knew had gotten drunk and high by the time they were 12 and there were more stories of losers than winners so the people in this movie were my people through and through(yeah I even once jumped off a house and missed a pool.). None of it is condoned or celebrated. They clearly show the downward spiral and the redemption in the trailer.

However if you're like pleasantville middle class and the only time you've ever encountered someone drinking a 40oz can of miller highlife is when you rolled your windows up at a traffic light when approached for change you probably wanna skip this one. You are so not the target audience.

So no surprises here just a charming and sometimes sad story of a drunken loser with powers. Its worth a watch.