There are people out there that don't blink an eye before helping another person for no personal gain. Bernie Laplante (Dustin Hoffman) is the opposite. He's this film's main character. See Laplante is basically a low level everything. Crook, father, employee, person.
He and his young son eat a meal at a restaurant and a joint trip to the washroom yields a lost wallet. The son asks the obvious. Shouldn't this be turned in? Bernie's answer is why turn it in when the manager will just end up pocketing the money. The son doesn't know any better, but we do. Next thing, he's fencing the stolen credit cards. That's Bernie Laplante in a nutshell.
Later on his way to pick his son up from his ex-wife his car breaks down on a bridge. Next thing you know an airplane crash lands right in front of him. It's unbelievable. He saves everyone on board including a popular tv reporter named Gale Gayley (Geena Davis), but not before getting driven into the mud by panicked exiting passengers.
The whole crash thing quickly becomes big news when it's discovered the person who saved everybody is a mystery. Gale being the head strong reporter that she is smells ratings galore. Soon they're dubbing Bernie the "Angel of Flight 104". Bernie knows nothing of this though. Even when the news station Gale works at offers a cool one million dollars for an exclusive interview with the "Angel".
Hero is an obvious tale of human nature with it's layers stripped away. Bernie and his personal problems; legal, family, and otherwise. Gale and the rabid news business. Then the mysterious indignant ex-Vietnam veteran John Bubber (Andy Garcia) who comes forward claiming to be the "Angel Of Flight 104".
Bubber is obviously an impostor, but his reasons are a mixed blessing. Predictably Gale and the news cronies are hungry for the person that has captured America's heart and more importantly the ratings and money spinoff. When Bubber surfaces, they don't prod or investigate. Gale in fact is taken up with Bubber. Who is rather cute and in fairy tale like world an almost perfect hero. Easily shapable and very easy to sell to the home audience no work needed. Meanwhile Bernie has to find a way of making things right -- in more ways than one.
Hero is a good movie, but the run-time feels bloated at nearly two hours. The cast do their job and the direction and writing is generally on course, but it feels a tad implausible that only at the end does anybody really figure out what's going on. What Hero captures is the best and worst of people. That and Chevy Chase has possibly put in one of his best performances in a unbilled role.
He and his young son eat a meal at a restaurant and a joint trip to the washroom yields a lost wallet. The son asks the obvious. Shouldn't this be turned in? Bernie's answer is why turn it in when the manager will just end up pocketing the money. The son doesn't know any better, but we do. Next thing, he's fencing the stolen credit cards. That's Bernie Laplante in a nutshell.
Later on his way to pick his son up from his ex-wife his car breaks down on a bridge. Next thing you know an airplane crash lands right in front of him. It's unbelievable. He saves everyone on board including a popular tv reporter named Gale Gayley (Geena Davis), but not before getting driven into the mud by panicked exiting passengers.
The whole crash thing quickly becomes big news when it's discovered the person who saved everybody is a mystery. Gale being the head strong reporter that she is smells ratings galore. Soon they're dubbing Bernie the "Angel of Flight 104". Bernie knows nothing of this though. Even when the news station Gale works at offers a cool one million dollars for an exclusive interview with the "Angel".
Hero is an obvious tale of human nature with it's layers stripped away. Bernie and his personal problems; legal, family, and otherwise. Gale and the rabid news business. Then the mysterious indignant ex-Vietnam veteran John Bubber (Andy Garcia) who comes forward claiming to be the "Angel Of Flight 104".
Bubber is obviously an impostor, but his reasons are a mixed blessing. Predictably Gale and the news cronies are hungry for the person that has captured America's heart and more importantly the ratings and money spinoff. When Bubber surfaces, they don't prod or investigate. Gale in fact is taken up with Bubber. Who is rather cute and in fairy tale like world an almost perfect hero. Easily shapable and very easy to sell to the home audience no work needed. Meanwhile Bernie has to find a way of making things right -- in more ways than one.
Hero is a good movie, but the run-time feels bloated at nearly two hours. The cast do their job and the direction and writing is generally on course, but it feels a tad implausible that only at the end does anybody really figure out what's going on. What Hero captures is the best and worst of people. That and Chevy Chase has possibly put in one of his best performances in a unbilled role.