American Hero

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source: American Hero

If you're looking for something in the lines of the Avengers universe you'll most likely be disappointed. Even though Stephen Dorff's character technically has some superpowers of sorts (levitation through mind-control) he doesn't really use it all that much most of the time. He prefers getting drunk and high over chasing bad guys and that's the main focus of the movie, even though sure there is a little action in it but not close enough to warrant this movie having action as the main genre listed (or listed at all). No it's more a mockumentary drama-comedy about a 'loser' douche-bag who just happen to have some supernatural powers (don't expect a new 'Chronicle' either though when I tell you that, again the lead is more impressed with the power of weed and alcohol than his levitation powers) They definitely had the potential to do more with the script but it was watchable at least. Eddie Griffin plays his best friend and he's in it for most of the scenes so if you like him it will be an extra treat.

When your friend invited you to dinner & said you will eat an expensive unique food & you are so interested & when you remove the food cover you found a burger sandwich..that's exactly what happened to me when I watch this movie, this is one of the worst films & blacklisted for me. The story came out to us or to me incoherent & in-compact. The movie does not meet my expectations, also we didn't see any super hero in the movie. If I want to be kind to this movie I can say only one point that may intercede the movie & it was the message I received personally from it which says even if you are in the land of dreams(USA) & you don't have the capability to succeed nothing will help you even if you have supernatural powers, but after all don't call this movie "American hero" you can call it "idling" instead.

Melvin, troublemaker extraordinaire, is living in the hurricane-battered housing projects of New Orleans, and is about to lose custody of his son. He also has telekinetic powers, but at the moment, he uses them to impress women and to fool the public into giving him money, rather than using them for the greater good. He's got little time to shape up fast. Will he succeed in cleaning up his act or will his powers ultimately be his downfall.......... The sole reason for me having any interest in this film is because it's directed by Nick Love, and up until this movie, his speciality has been British crime movies, usually starring Danny Dyer and involving lots of swearing and usually quite good music, so I wanted to see where he would be with this. Well with a $990,000 budget, and a really strange genre arc, the answer is, not very far, as Love appears to lose the film at the first hurdle, and only to find its mojo literally ten minutes toward the end. Billed as a comedy, it's depressing to say the least, as we follow Dorff and Griffin on a sub documentary style filming of debauchery, drugs, alcohol, and almost always ending with Dorff staring into the abyss. But the films narrative relies heavily on Tranters Chronicle, but instead of showing us how dangerous a power like this could be, here, the use of its almost beyond blaise, as our hero is using it for his benefit. It starts to pick up a little toward the end credits, but by this time, you've become as depressed as Dorff appears when he's on a comedown. There is an idea in here somewhere, but it gets lost in translation. And heaven knows why Love chose this project, he's much better suited to Danny Dyer and Tammer Hassan swearing their noggins off. A wasted effort, but would make a great double bill with Tranters Fantastic Four.

This seems like a story about a useless guy who has let his life go to ruin and is now going to get himself back on the right path... and then they threw in some scenes of levitating objects because... well why not? Clearly a hard luck story about a dad wanting to get his life together for his kid needs some random mention of super powers. I was determined to watch this movie but it took 3 separate tries... Something that made no sense was that his friends were somehow AMAZED every time he would use his powers... Forget the fact that they had been "Scientifically studying" him for so long. I mean wouldn't you get used to somebody you had known for years who could do something amazing? I know we get sick of celebrities and all kinds of one trick ponies in real life. I think they had a small budget which was wasted on the few special effects in this movie and no money was left over for an actual script. The most believable part of the whole story was Stephen Dorff at the parties. It was like they literally just told him to go and do drugs and drink and they would just film it. Sort of disturbing how good he is at playing his low life character... Hopefully he is just very good at acting and the real actor isn't that bad off in real life... Do not watch this movie if you are expecting a superhero. I watched the whole thing thinking it would come and then it all of a sudden ended and I realized I had wasted an hour and a half of my life. I have no idea why anybody is rating this movie with anything above 1 star. I would avoid watching this.

Stephen Dorff plays Melvin, an underachiever/slacker who is loved/worshiped by everyone in his community even though he has nothing to offer, does nothing all day, and spends most of his time partying (which is just wasting time, FYI.) Sooo much of this film are composite shots of him partying, freebasing, then screaming at the camera. "YA DUDE!" You'd think the filmmakers would trust us to understand the fact that Melvin spends his time getting wasted, but nope, they hammer montage after montage after montage down our throats juuuust in case. It's okay that nothing in this film is subtle, but that doesn't mean the film has to be brainless. What kills me about "American Hero" is its blandness. Its premise is original and a fun take on the current super hero trend of movies, but its originality is criminally wasted. This movie is just plain boring, and annoying, given the many plot points brought up but not explored. For example, Melvin learns that if he uses his super hero powers too much he may die. After this revelation, it's never mentioned again and has no effect for the rest of the film. Oi! Melvin's character is meant to appeal to slackers, underachievers, guys who think they're above work... you know-- men who live in fantasy worlds. Melvin is truly fictional, as he is someone who gets to have his cake and eat it too. He's loved by all, has a beautiful wife and son, and by the film's end he undergoes no arc, gets no job, no training, no nothing. The filmmakers had a demographic in mind for their audience--ie, loser men-- and knew they couldn't insult them by daring to suggest that Melvin changes his wasteful ways. But Melvin's like, way smart, you guys. He listens to Tchaikovsky ("The changes! The notes! The way it *crescendos!*" Gag, retch) and reads random passages from Guy de Maupassant, out of context in vain attempt to fool the audience into thinking that Melvin has a *clue* as to what he's talking about. This "appreciation" for literature, and everything about Melvin—from the way he dresses, interacts with others, slumps over, tries to look cool, and wastes time just feeds into the slacker mindset: "I've got, like, *loads* of potential, man. I'm just not interested in joining the rest of the world. Now excuse me as I go and play as a character who offers essential skills to a world in a video game or D&D." Despite that "Undercover Brother" may be one of the worst movies I've seen (the gag throughout the whole thing: white people are lame! Get it?!) Eddie Griffin is a highlight in this movie. He's a charming guy with real charisma. However, there's one scene where Eddie's character (Lucille) is in a hospital and hits on a nurse. I... gaped, watching that. The nurse laughs his chat up lines off, but in reality, they were so creepy she would have either flown out of the room or called security. The wheelchair Melvin gifts Lucille with at the end of film too was another awful touch. Just because Lucille is loud doesn't mean you should put streamers on his chair's handles, man. Ever listen in on a tedious, empty, dumb conversation between a gang of spoiled, pretentious gits? That's the tone of this movie. Avoid.

Adding a bit of diversity to the Superhero movie genre is American Hero. Stephen Dorff is cast perfectly as a mundane style superhero. A man blessed with gifts that make him special, but too nihilistic to use his powers for anything pass doing some simple parlor tricks to get money for drugs booze and girls, but like a page out of a Marvel comic, a near death experience clears his head, allowing him to become focus on the responsibility of becoming the man his son needs him to be. Two things that make this movie impressive: One was the outstanding performance by Eddie Griffith as a war hero who lives life in a wheelchair. The way his life parallels that of Stephen Dorff's character, a man who has everything but does nothing, was emotionally captivating in a film you would not expect this in. It was so real and natural, it was hard to believe Griffith can walk. It may seem too high praise to say it's Oscar worthy, but it was, and it's too bad they don't even consider giving out the trophy on a flick like this. Second was the back drop of the big easy. New Orleans set the tone perfectly for American Hero, because it's one of those places in America that really could use a man with gifts like the main character and he's barely touching the surface of his potential. The one thing that keeps American Hero from being amazing is the documentary style it's formatted in. It's not that I'm sick and tired of the format (but I am), the gimmick feels like just that, a gimmick and it takes away from the story because it's very inconsistent. I guess it was done to make us feel like we are part of the story by making us feel we are shooting the American Hero's life but Dorff's performance was too close to what the average person would do if they had superpowers that we did not need that extra push. It's one of those things that just tells you the time and the place this movie was made, like bell bottoms or baggy paints, and stops it from becoming timeless. With that said, I do feel that American Hero has potential to be the type of film nerds will be talking about in the aftermath of the Superhero genre with the praise of a hidden gem among them.

comedy ? this movie is about as funny as a fart in an elevator. sorry,its just stupid yank crap.... the story starts out pretty dumb,and it just gets worse. by the time it looks like getting interesting,its over. if they had made the story AS... "AN American HERO" story then they might have been onto something. but unfortunately,this is what you get from college students. lots of intellect but little brains. just damn awful. sorry for rambling,but the top two lines say it all, and i needed 10 lines for a review.i would not pay money to see this movie.if i new how bad it would be , i would not have downloaded it.maybe,in a sequel,they could carry on the story and the main character could learn to use his talents and defeat criminals,clean up the town,and crush cars of bad guys...that wouldn't be bad to see....