6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
An ailing movie star comes to terms with his past and mortality.
Starring: Sam Elliott, Krysten Ritter, Laura Prepon, Nick Offerman, Katharine RossDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There’s a certain “meta” aspect to The Hero which perhaps elevates some inherently sudsy content to unexpectedly resonant levels. Who hasn’t marveled at the completely unique and instantly identifiable voice of Sam Elliott? Unquestionably rugged, but also inarguably suave, Elliott’s voice has an unmistakable timbre and it has served him especially well through a variety of roles in the western genre. It’s also brought him a little pocket change courtesy of some commercial voiceover work, and as The Hero begins, Elliott’s character of Lee Hayden, a “character” some might argue is not all that far removed from Elliott himself, is in fact reciting a patently ridiculous line about barbecue sauce into a studio microphone. Over and over and over again, at an unseen director’s behest, a director who keeps saying “great”, only to follow up with “just one more” without any further explanation of what he’s looking for or how Hayden’s delivery might be altered. Welcome to the glamorous world of show business, ladies and gentlemen. Hayden, perhaps a bit like Elliott himself, is an actor looking back on a career that kept him more or less busy if rarely fulfilled. In just one of several “nesting dolls” contained within the film, Hayden is best remembered for an old western called The Hero, but that was decades ago. (While I bet many would cite Elliott in a non western like The Big Lebowski as an undeniably memorable performance, I’d be hard pressed to cull only one Elliott performance as his “best remembered”. That said, if forced to, I’d probably actually go with another non western film, 1976’s Lifeguard.) With few career opportunities other than occasional voicework, and with a newly diagnosed case of pancreatic cancer adding to his woes, Hayden spends much of his time getting stoned and simply watching the tide wash in from the Pacific Ocean. A chance meeting with a much younger stand up comedian named Charlotte (Laura Prepon) seems to offer Hayden at least the hint of an opportunity for some happiness, but even with this hint The Hero maintains a largely melancholic, even elegiac, aspect.
The Hero is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The IMDb lists a couple of Arri models but doesn't say anything about what I presume was a 2K DI for this often interesting and fairly varied looking feature. There are a number of different stylistic elements on display, with the dreamlike scenes supposedly kinda sorta from The Hero often having an amber hued quality which is nonetheless very well detailed, and some of the dreamlike scenes of Hayden on the beach next to the ocean bathed in blue, where a certain softness and lack of fine detail do prevail. When not intentionally graded, the palette looks natural and in fact just a little drab at times, perhaps reflective of Hayden's lot in life. Haley and Givens favor a lot of extreme close-ups of their star's iconic face, and Elliott's well earned crags look precise and natural. There are a few scenes that take place indoors with little to no lighting (other than Hayden lighting up his joint) where detail levels are minimized.
The Hero offers a fine sounding if only occasionally robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Both of the aforementioned dreamlike elements, strolls by the beach and supposed scenes from The Hero, offer some of the best placement of immersive ambient effects, but even more mundane sequences like the Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony provide occasional moments of good surround activity. Dialogue is well prioritized and delivered without any problems.
For all the technique Elliott evinces as Lee Hayden in The Hero, it's probably debatable how much of an actual stretch the character is for this iconic actor. The film is probably a bit too "arty" for its own good, but the sheer ruggedness of Elliott's demeanor kind of anchors it in a grittiness that even all the shots of waving wheat in the honey hued sunset can't undercut. Performances are top notch in this piece, and I'm going to go out on a predictive limb and state I bet Elliott gets an Academy Award nomination for his work, though that aforementioned questionability as to the "stretch" factor may deny him the actual trophy. The Hero's technical merits are strong and the Blu-ray comes Recommended.
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