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.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. That said, I went in with very little expectations and I did not expect it to be Man of Steel or even Hancock. If all you want to see is a Hollywood superhero action movie, then this is not the movie for you.

This movie is about a guy with superpowers, not a superhero. It's depiction is much more down to earth, mundane, and realistic compared to the glamorous and romantic depiction of people with super powers in other movies like The Marvel and DC films.

It's about a pretty average, albeit really irresponsible guy who deals with his own personal issues.. he also just so happens to have telekinesis. I say give it a chance unless you want an action packed "superhero" movie.

First impressions were OK, it was visually very nice but the swearing was a bit too frequent, like it was trying too hard to be street.

It wasn't a film that made me feel very passionate so I'm finding this hard. Due to how laid back the whole thing was, it's very easy to watch and forget.

No real real gripes with it apart from the fact it doesn't seem to know whether it is a fictional documentary or a regular movie.

In lots of scenes (mostly at the start) the cast talk to the camera man, but this isn't consistent throughout the film. I'm sure street thugs doing drugs and guns etc might not act as if the cameras weren't there, nor would the cameraman smoothly and calmly film a shootout without cover.

Some of the CGI effects were a bit video game-like which which I can understand on a low budget, but they could have disguised them better with some creative filters.

I gave it 6/10 which is a good score for me, it would have been 8/10 for a low budget movie had the above issues not have been there.

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?

Based on the description, I was expecting something similar to Hancock about a superhero with deep character flaws and an alcohol problem that gets his life together. While this movie can be described as such, it really isn't. The hero of this movie primarily used his power as a parlor trick and only fights crime for like 3 minutes. The remainder of the hour and a half you are bored to tears waiting on the superhero to show up while being subjected to watching a waste of oxygen get drunk and high over and over. The powers seem more like an afterthought than it should be for a movie billed as a superhero movie. In fact they could have completely left out any powers at all, deleted the 3 minutes of action and had essentially the same movie.

I will say that the actors and director did a good job with the script they had, and if this wasn't pushed as a superhero movie, I might have rated it higher. Based on what I was looking for I found it slow and boring.

Bottom line: If you are looking for a superhero movie like Hancock this isn't it. If you are looking for a movie about overcoming addiction, then this might fit the bill.