Hero

Directed by Stephen Frears, Hero follows Dustin Hoffman’s sketchy Bernie LaPlante as he reluctantly saves a plane full of crash victims but is subsequently pushed out of the spotlight by an opportunistic figure named John Bubber (Andy Garcia). (Geena Davis costars as the ambitious reporter who breaks the story.) Filmmaker Stephen Frears delivers a deliberate yet mostly compelling drama that benefits substantially from Hoffman’s thoroughly engrossing work, as the actor steps into the shoes of his decidedly unsavory character to a degree that’s rarely anything but spellbinding – with the actor receiving able support from an eclectic periphery cast that includes Joan Cusack, Tom Arnold, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Chevy Chase. (The latter’s unbilled turn as a fast-talking news director is especially enjoyable.) And although the various twists and unexpected happenings within David Webb Peoples’ screenplay go a long way towards keeping things interesting, Hero admittedly does suffer from a meandering midsection that’s compounded by a palpably overlong running time – with the egregiously prolonged third act ensuring that the whole thing ends on a disappointingly anticlimactic note. Still, Hero does, by and large, come off as a perfectly watchable endeavor that undoubtedly boasts one of Hoffman’s most compelling and flat-out entertaining performances.

*** out of ****