Almost Heroes (1998)

Director:

Christopher Guest

Writers (WGA):

Mark Nutter (written by) &
Tom Wolfe (written by) ...

Release Date:

29 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Western

Tagline:

Almost History... Almost Legends... Mostly Ridiculous.

Plot:

A road comedy about 2 guys whose mission is to beat Lewis and Clark.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Slapstick | Critically Bashed | Exploration | Hair

Cast

Chris Farley	...	Bartholomew Hunt
Matthew Perry	...	Leslie Edwards
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Jonah
Barry Del Sherman	...	Sergeant
Robert Tittor	...	Priest
Franklin Cover	...	Nicholas Burr
David Packer	...	Bidwell
Eugene Levy	...	Guy Fontenot
Lisa Barbuscia	...	Shaquinna
Christian Clemenson	...	Father Girard
Steven M. Porter	...	Higgins
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Jackson (as Joseph Patrick Cranshaw)
Hamilton Camp	...	Pratt
Jonathan Joss	...	Bent Twig
George Aguilar	...	Chief Two Roads

Also Known As:

Almost History (USA) (working title)
Edwards and Hunt (USA) (working title)
Edwards and Hunt: The First American Road Trip (USA) (working title)
From Here to There (USA) (working title)
Westward Ho (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and nudity.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35442)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Turner Pictures (I)

Trivia:

This film marks the last leading role for Chris Farley who died five months before the film released. However it is not his last film appearance as he had a cameo for the film Dirty Work released later that same year.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Leslie Edwards is watching Guy's wife bathing, she has a thong tan line.

Quotes:

Hunt: What I remembered the most were the animals.
Edwards: [smiles] Ah, the animals...
Hunt: Fearsome beasts of the mountains and plains. I've seen a bear so powerful... that it *snapped* a man's body in half with his huge jaws. Garrgghh! Garrgghh! I've seen a badger with paws as big as frying pans. And that'd rip your face right off! Right off! Nothing you can do with that! Just rip it off! Once there was a hawk that swooped down from the sky...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Central Presents: Frank Caliendo (#8.4)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Opus 71 Third Movement, String Quartet in E Flat Major, 'Andante Con Moto'

the movie's mediocre, but Farley's performance is anything but

If I saw this movie with almost anyone else cast in Chris Farley's part I probably, well, would have never seen it in the first place, but if I did I would have given it a lousy review. OK, the movie itself was completely predictable and dumb (not like it was supposed to be intellectual). I think Matthew Perry had't made it to rehab yet because during certain scenes he looks too thin and pale. During others (did they toss both of the leads in rehab halfway through shooting, then continue when they were out?) he looks pretty good. In fact, if you have the hots for Perry, you should definitely see it because he was looking pretty good to me by the end of the movie, and I never thought he was all that hot before. I have a feeling the part of "Edwards" was originally meant for David Spade, but he pulled out.

We saw it opening weekend, Saturday night, and the theater had already split up the movie (and even cut the poster in half! Jerks) with another in the same part of the theater because no-one was showing up. The audience was us and maybe a dozen other Farley fans who sat silently when he wasn't onscreen, then you'd hear us all laugh at the top of our lungs scattered from various parts of the mostly empty auditorium (the laughs were scattered, not our lungs, sorry for the bad grammar) when he did or said something funny. This is not his best movie (he was obviously and sadly on his last legs, but doing his best to give his fans their money's worth)but not his worst. If you're a Farley fan, don't be scared away by the bad reviews, rent it or buy it! The scene where he has to go find an eagle's egg in the wilderness to cure his sick friend is priceless, and so is his comment when he finally brings it back and finds out which part of the egg they needed. Every single review in the media I read said something along the lines of "this is a sad legacy to be Farley's last movie, with this weak performance, blah blah" but I think he could have done a lot worse.

RIP big guy, your fans miss you.