Hero at Large

An underwhelming, forgettable comedy, Hero at Large follows struggling actor Steve Nichols (John Ritter) as he adopts the persona of the superhero he’s been hired to portray at public events – with complications ensuing after an unpopular politician tasks Steve with promoting his upcoming re-election campaign. (There’s also a subplot revolving around Steve’s continuing efforts at wooing his neighbor, Anne Archer’s Jolene Walsh.) It’s an appealing, promising setup that’s employed to progressively underwhelming and tedious effect by Martin Davidson, as the filmmaker, working from AJ Carothers’ screenplay, delivers a meandering endeavor that suffers from an almost total absence of compelling, interesting sequences – with the often astonishingly muted atmosphere dulling the impact of the movie’s few overtly positive attributes. (This is especially true of Ritter’s predictably affable and charming turn as the appealing central character.) The less-than-captivating vibe is compounded by the continuing emphasis on that aforementioned romantic subplot, as the palpable lack of chemistry between Ritter and Archer’s respective protagonists prevents such sequences from packing the charming punch Davidson has obviously intended – which, when coupled with a larger-than-life climax that isn’t exciting or cathartic in the least, cements Hero at Large‘s place as a disappointingly, distressingly ineffective piece of work.

** out of ****