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Parents' Guide to

The Hero

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Sweet, soulful story about aging actor has mature content.

Movie R 2017 93 minutes
The Hero Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In THE HERO, Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott) was once a Western movie star known for his iconic role in a movie called The Hero. But these says he's doing radio ads for barbecue sauce. He goes to buy pot from his old friend, Jeremy (Nick Offerman), and, while he's there, meets the pretty, younger Charlotte (Laura Prepon). They strike up a tentative relationship but then a routine checkup reveals that Lee has cancer. He starts trying to pick up the pieces of his life, specifically attempting to reconcile with his daughter, Lucy (Krysten Ritter). But then an appearance at an awards banquet supercharges Lee's career, and he finds himself pulled in several directions at once, struggling to decide what's most important.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Director Brett Haley manages to take an underused subject, i.e. a character over 70, and make a movie that's deeply soulful and sweetly easygoing. A movie like this could easily turn into a dire, hand-wringing affair, full of tears and anguish and button-pushing. But The Hero -- like Haley's own wonderful I'll See You in My Dreams -- is remarkably laid-back, happily open to looseness and exploration. It's warm, funny, and very much in tune with all of its characters, young and old, male and female.

The central May-December relationship could have been troubling, but the movie treats it just right, with a measure of shyness, a measure of questioning, and a measure of distance; each character feels around, rather than assuming a solution. Likewise, the father-daughter relationship seems to respect each character's point of view. No one's feelings are presented as hysterical or unreasonable. And, at the same time, nothing feels forced or overly dramatized; it's a breezy, effortless movie and a good choice for mature moviegoers of all ages.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how The Hero portrays drug use. Are drugs glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

  • Which images of violence are shown? Why do you think Lee thinks of violence during his "Western" reveries?

  • What is a "legacy"? Why would someone care so much about it? How much control does a person have over their legacy?

  • Why do you think more movies aren't aren't made about older people? What drives the business of filmmaking?

Movie Details

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