Synopsis
Lee, a former Western film icon, is living a comfortable existence lending his golden voice to advertisements and smoking weed. After receiving a lifetime achievement award and unexpected news, Lee reexamines his past, while a chance meeting with a sardonic comic has him looking to the future.
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Cast
- Sam ElliottLee Hayden
- Laura PreponCharlotte Dylan
- Nick OffermanJeremy Frost
- Krysten RitterLucy Hayden
- Katharine RossValarie Hayden
- Doug CoxDoctor
- Max GailGary Babcock
- Jackie JoynerBetsy
- Patrika DarboDiane
- Ali WongAli Wong
Recommendations
- 91
The Film Stage
The cancer-diagnosis plot device is certainly well-worn and can often be viciously maudlin, but Haley does well in utilizing it as a means to work on something a bit more nuanced. - 83
The Playlist
The Hero feels looser, more abstract, and more symbolically ambitious than the winsome “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” and at times you wish for a bit more narrative rigor. But it’s nonetheless a resonant depiction of a man fearlessly reckoning with his life, his image and, most importantly, his heart. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Luckily, Elliott succeeds in pulling you into Lee's emotional orbit and holding you there even when the movie falters. - 67
IndieWire
With Elliott front and center of every scene, The Hero pulls off the kind of acting showcase that its fictional star can never achieve. - 63
Movie Nation
Brett Haley’s film captures Elliott in all his majesty, his twinkle dimming as he casts his eyes out over the mountains beyond his house or the rocky beach down the hill. - 60
We Got This Covered
Anchored by a top-notch performance from its lead, The Hero surpasses its cliches and becomes an ideal vehicle for its star. In Sam Elliot we trust. - 58
The A.V. Club
A film that generously gives Elliott one of the few lead roles of his lengthy career, but mostly asks him to embody clichés, without providing any sense of how he might improve upon them. - 50
Variety
Haley and Basch have mistaken what the AARP calls “movies for grownups” for a kind of mushy feel-good pablum, throwing together a handful of familiar clichés in the hope that Elliott’s charm will carry the day.
