hero

Director: stephen frears

Actor: dustin hoffman,geena davis,andy garcia,joan cusack

Data Published: Fri Oct 02 1992

Genres: Comedy,Drama,Romance

Key Words: unlikely hero,reluctant hero,stealing credit,firefighter,bartender

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104412/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_(1992_film)

Description: Hero is a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, and Andy Garcia. A not-so-nice man rescues passengers from a crashed airliner, only to see someone else take credit.

Plot: Bernie LaPlante (Dustin Hoffman) is a pickpocket and petty criminal who anonymously rescues survivors including TV reporter Gale Gayley (Geena Davis) at an airplane crash. His motives are not "pure" as he enters the burning plane in order to steal some of the passengers' purses and wallets, losing a shoe in the process. After finding his car is towed away from the crash scene, he flags down John Bubber (Andy Garcia), a homeless Vietnam veteran, and tells him about the rescue at the crash site, giving him his remaining shoe. When Deke (Chevy Chase), the television station news director, offers $1 million to the "Angel of Flight 104", Bernie realizes he can't claim the reward, due to his arrest while fencing credit cards he stole from the people he rescued. John, however, contacts Gale, recounting Bernie's tale of the rescue and provides the single shoe to take credit for the selfless act. When Bernie tries to tell people that John is a fake, the media, after sensationalizing his heroic image, will not believe Bernie. Gale, as one of the crash survivors, considers herself to be in John's debt and soon grooms his public image. She finds herself falling in love with him even though she has questions about his authenticity. Despite his reluctant acceptance of his fame, he turns out to be a decent person, using his notoriety and reward money to help sick children and the homeless. John finds himself in an ethical dilemma since his persona is inspirational to countless people. Meanwhile, Bernie continues to aggravate his ex-wife, Evelyn (Joan Cusack), and fails to bond with his son, Joey (James Madio), who is now enamored with John. He begins to feel that if Joey is going to idolize anyone, perhaps John is the better choice. A police detective tells Gale her credit cards were recovered during Bernie's arrest. She and her cameraman, Chucky (Kevin J. O'Connor), break into Bernie's apartment with the help of Winston (Maury Chaykin), the landlord. While searching for evidence to incriminate Bernie, Gale finds a stolen Silver Microphone Award that she won in New York City, the night before the crash. Bernie arrives only to be confronted by her, who speculates that John stole her purse in a moment of weakness during the rescue, sold it to Bernie, and accuses him of attempting to now blackmail John. They are interrupted by Winston, who says John is on television, about to commit suicide by jumping from the ledge of a high-rise skyscraper. Gale rushes to the scene and brings Bernie along, threatening to have him prosecuted if John leaps to his death. In addition, she demands Bernie apologize for the attempted blackmail. Evelyn and Joey rush there as well, with Evelyn reminiscing how Bernie is selfish and cynical, but always becomes a great person in a crisis. When they arrive, Bernie goes out on the ledge, hatching a scheme to milk the media attention for all its worth. Ultimately, he convinces John that the world needs a hero, and that he is clearly the right one for the job, though he does negotiate a discreet share of the $1 million. When Bernie slips off the ledge, John grabs him and pulls him to safety, a (true) hero once more. When Gale sees Bernie's face covered with dirt, as on the night of the crash, she realizes it was he who saved her. She confronts him "off the record" with her supposition, but he insists that John was the hero. As Gale leaves, however, she thanks Bernie for saving her life; and he impulsively replies, "You're welcome." She tells him to tell Joey the truth. John agrees to continue playing the part of public hero. While on an excursion to the zoo, Bernie decides to tell Joey the true story of the crash. After he does so, a lady cries out that her daughter has fallen into the lion's cage. Joey pleads with him to help, to which he sighs, slips off his shoes, and heads off to see what he can do.