Interesting little movie this is. On the top it doesn't seem to be that much, but when one begins to look deeper one sees that this movie is very scathing of the media and the way they turn people into celebrities, even though they did nothing to deserve it. The major theme of this movie is that of appearance and reality - what is real, and if television says it does that mean that it is true? And are those heroes we see on television really heroes or are they just foolish people who were damn lucky? Bernie Le-Plant (Dustin Hoffman) is the typical everyday cretin. He has just been convicted of receiving stolen goods and he is to be sentenced in six days. During the trial he steals a heap of money off of his lawyer, who is only a court-appointed lawyer that he does not like, and then goes off to make himself look good in the eyes of society by seeing his son. While going to get his son, a plane crashes in front of him, and because he cannot drive over the bridge as there is a burning plane in the way, he rather reluctantly goes and opens the door, after removing his $100 shoes. After letting the people out, a kid asks him to find his dad, so rather reluctantly Bernie goes into the plane and saves those trapped in there, but there is no Fletcher, as he has already escaped. While rescuing a journalist, he decides to steal her purse. The twist evolves when he loses one shoe and gives the other to a vagrant, John Bubba (Andy Garcia), who lives out of a truck. Bubba is a nice and honest guy, but when the television station offers a million dollars to the person who rescued the people from the plane, Bubba cannot resist and takes the shoe and claims the prize. Unlike Cinderella, Bubba is not the real princess, yet he turns out to be the most deserving one. Now that they have their hero, the media sets about turning him into a god. Everybody loves him and literally hangs of every word he says. Everybody by the real hero, Bernie Le-Plant. The thing is that Le-Plant is not the hero type - Bubba visits hospitals and give people hope, while Le-Plant just simply wanders around stealing credit-cards and landing up in jail. Though Bubba is not the real hero, he conforms to the people's idea of a hero and thus finds himself trapped in the role. He tries to get out by trying to speak the truth but nobody really wants to listen to him - he is the hero and nothing is going to change their minds about it. The most interesting aspect of the movie occurs at the climax where Bubba is standing on the ledge of a building wanting to jump off. He is fed up with living a lie and Le-Plant is haunting his dreams. He knows Le-Plant is the real hero and the guilt of his lie is tearing him apart. Le-Plant gets out onto the ledge to save Bubba, and they begin to talk, but as they talk, the media slowly begin to twist things around - what began as Bubba wanting to jump and Le-Plant talking him down, becomes Le-Plant wanting to jump and Bubba saving him. Bubba is the hero figure and the media want to milk it for as much as they can. By the time they are back into the building, everybody has forgotten that it was actually Bubba out on the ledge originally wanting to jump. The movie shows us a very cold and indifferent side of the media. The quote about suicidees is not trying to talk them down - that does not make a good news story - but not catching them least they pull you over as well. The journalist comes slowly to see this side of the media as the person whom she has come close to - Bubba - is now the target of the media's sensationalism. Her cameraman still does not understand, and simply wants to see somebody making a red mark on the ground. As the news stations buzz with activity at the action occurring on the skyscraper - the talk is not about bringing them down, but digging up information regarding the people on the ledge. When another station discovers who Bernie Le-Plant is and slowly manipulates the story around to suit them, the executive has a fit as they did not get the information first. As what was said in Wag the Dog, a movie with a similar theme, if it is said on television then it must be true - one cannot contradict a story that has been developed by another station, unless the contradiction reveals even more sensational evidence.
Review of Hero
