Sundance Review: Sam Elliott Gives the Best Performance of His Career in THE HERO
Sam Elliott is an incredible actor who has had a long and successful career of playing all kinds of great and interesting characters. I'm a big fan of his as he's got such a fantastic look and a cool personality. He never disappoints with the characters he plays, and now he's given the greatest performance of his career to date in a wonderful film called The Hero.
Elliott plays an aging actor who has had a long career making westerns and his career has fizzled into doing voiceover work for commercials. He spends his days trying to figure out what his next step is and getting high with his friend and dealer played by Nick Offerman.
While navigating through life as an old actor best known for one good western he made called The Hero, he finds out he has cancer and is forced to deal with the ramifications of that. As he's in a state of calm panic he meets a young woman played by Laura Prepon, who falls for him, and he attempts to make amends with his estranged daughter played by Krysten Ritter.
It's a wonderfully touching story about coming to terms with the hand that life has dealt you and how to make the best of it as it when things seem dark and unfixable.
Elliott gave an award-worthy performance, and there are several times throughout the film when he makes you laugh with his incredibly and amusing charm and cry with his deep heartfelt spirit and emotion. He was simply captivating, and I hope it gives a boost to his film career. I'd love to see him take on more incredible roles like this!
The Hero is a beautifully told story and a poetic film that's not to be missed, so check it out when it eventually gets released!