Accidental Hero (I) (1992)
"Hero" (original title)

A not-so-nice man rescues passengers from a crashed airliner, only to see someone else take credit.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers:

Laura Ziskin (story), Alvin Sargent (story),

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy Garcia

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Bernie Laplante
Geena Davis	...	Gale Gayley
Andy Garcia	...	John Bubber
Joan Cusack	...	Evelyn
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Chucky
Maury Chaykin	...	Winston
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Wallace
Christian Clemenson	...	Conklin
Tom Arnold	...	Chick
Warren Berlinger	...	Judge Goines
Cady Huffman	...	Flight Attendant Leslie
Susie Cusack	...	Donna O'Day
James Madio	...	Joey
Richard Riehle	...	Robinson
Daniel Baldwin	...	Fireman Denton (as Daniel Leroy Baldwin)

Storyline

Bernie LaPlante is having a rough time. He's divorced, his ex-wife hates him, and has custody of their son. The cops are setting a trap for him, then to top it all, he loses a shoe while rescuing passengers of a plane crash. Being a thief who is down on his luck, he takes advantage of the rescue, but then someone else claims credit for it.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | reluctant hero | mistaken identity | illinois | lost shoe | 

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Taglines:

One selfless act of courage can really mess up your whole day.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for uses of strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ein ganz normaler Held

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$19,487,173 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 75 min (Family Channel)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In her acceptance speech of the Silver Microphone, Gale Gayley takes out an onion and starts peeling it off. This is a direct reference to Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt".

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Goofs

When Bernie and John are driving in stop and go traffic the car they are in doesn't move. All the cars around it inch up and move in reverse through the entire conversation.

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Quotes

Passenger: [the plane crashes and Bernie stares at it wide-eyed] Please help us!
Bernie LaPlante: These are $100 dollar shoes!

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Crazy Credits

Special thanks to the people of Piru and Filmore, California; the people of Cook County, Illinois.

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Connections

Features Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

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Soundtracks

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic"
(uncredited)
Music by William Steffe
Arranged by George Fenton and Jeff Atmajian
In the score several times

User Reviews

Highly underrated

This film is terribly misrepresented by critics. True, it is not an insightful social critique. It is not a moving analysis of human nature. It is not a philosophical masterpiece. But it makes no pretensions to be any of these things. Hero is pure Hollywood, and is the very best of what Hollywood means, or meant at the time. The plot is clever, the writing is witty, the characters are interesting, and the acting is decent (Dustin Hoffman is great). The development is not meant to expose new subtleties of human emotion, but rather strongly to evoke obvious ones -- in this case, pride. In other words, it is meant to make you happy. That is not to say that the audience is barraged with heavy-handed judgments, merely that it does not require a degree in theater to like the film. It is interesting enough to be enjoyable after several viewings, but not subtle enough to require serious study.

Hero is perfect for the intelligent moviegoer who wants to watch a film for fun, and that is the context in which it should be understood. It is Hollywood at its best.