Being a film fan can be tough, especially today where giant movie theaters waste multiple screens on garbage like "Mission Impossible 3" or the latest DreamWorks CGI mess. But once in a great while a movie will come out of nowhere, grab you, and make you thankful that Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers existed. In many ways "The Movie Hero" is such a film. Featuring a great script, deft direction, and an extremely charismatic leading man, "Movie Hero" is without a doubt one of the most unexpected finds of the year. But, much like its main character, "Movie Hero" is not without its share of problems.
The charmingly enigmatic Jeremy Sisto stars as Blake Gardner, a self-confessed "film nut" who is a kooky member of the crazy crowd that flourishes in the mental hospital known as Hollywood. After a bad break up with a longtime girlfriend, Blake begins to see visions of an audience in front of him and starts to believe that he is the hero in a movie about himself. Believing that a suspicious character (Peter Stormare) is up to no good, Blake decides that it's his responsibility as the star of his film to find out what he is up to. Following a physical encounter with the suspicious character that leads to police involvement, Blake is forced to see psychiatrist Elizabeth Orlando (Diana Meyer). As a rookie therapist, Elizabeth has trouble separating herself from the charming Blake, especially once he begins to believe that she must be his "character's" love interest and spends the rest of the film referring to her as such. Blake then hires a sidekick and spends the rest of the film tracking the activities of the suspicious character while trying to convince his love interest that her movie-hating fiancé is the wrong man for her and that she should spend the rest of her life starring opposite himself.
Having Blake break the fourth wall and spend the majority of the film talking to the audience was quite a chance on the part of writer and first-time director Brad T. Gottfred. Luckily, Gottfred's script goes out of its way to profess its undying love for all of cinema, and it comes across completely genuine. courtesy of the severely underrated Sisto. One of the most refreshing aspects of Blake's character is his constant need to not let his audience be bored by clichés. Blake groans in disgust when two cops are forced to spill coffee on themselves, and he refuses to hire a hip black man as his sidekick, stating that it's been done to death. All of these actions show a love and knowledge for both Blake's audience and Gottfred's.
But as original and unique as "The Movie Hero" is, it lets itself fall into several classic and quite generic traps. The love story between Blake and his love interest, while at the center of the film, is the least interesting aspect of the movie. This pitfall could have been avoided by casting a more sincere or believable actress opposite Sisto. Dina Meyer never seems too sure about what kind of film she's in and plays it far too straight, at times slowing the film down with her inability to move with the flow of the actors around her. While Sisto and his sidekick, portrayed with great enjoyment by Brian J. White, take the film and have a wonderful time chasing the equally fun Stormare around town, Meyer seems bored and at times perplexed by the direction of the film. Which is a shame, for her character should have been more than a signal for a bathroom break or a run to the fridge.
The charmingly enigmatic Jeremy Sisto stars as Blake Gardner, a self-confessed "film nut" who is a kooky member of the crazy crowd that flourishes in the mental hospital known as Hollywood. After a bad break up with a longtime girlfriend, Blake begins to see visions of an audience in front of him and starts to believe that he is the hero in a movie about himself. Believing that a suspicious character (Peter Stormare) is up to no good, Blake decides that it's his responsibility as the star of his film to find out what he is up to. Following a physical encounter with the suspicious character that leads to police involvement, Blake is forced to see psychiatrist Elizabeth Orlando (Diana Meyer). As a rookie therapist, Elizabeth has trouble separating herself from the charming Blake, especially once he begins to believe that she must be his "character's" love interest and spends the rest of the film referring to her as such. Blake then hires a sidekick and spends the rest of the film tracking the activities of the suspicious character while trying to convince his love interest that her movie-hating fiancé is the wrong man for her and that she should spend the rest of her life starring opposite himself.
Having Blake break the fourth wall and spend the majority of the film talking to the audience was quite a chance on the part of writer and first-time director Brad T. Gottfred. Luckily, Gottfred's script goes out of its way to profess its undying love for all of cinema, and it comes across completely genuine. courtesy of the severely underrated Sisto. One of the most refreshing aspects of Blake's character is his constant need to not let his audience be bored by clichés. Blake groans in disgust when two cops are forced to spill coffee on themselves, and he refuses to hire a hip black man as his sidekick, stating that it's been done to death. All of these actions show a love and knowledge for both Blake's audience and Gottfred's.
But as original and unique as "The Movie Hero" is, it lets itself fall into several classic and quite generic traps. The love story between Blake and his love interest, while at the center of the film, is the least interesting aspect of the movie. This pitfall could have been avoided by casting a more sincere or believable actress opposite Sisto. Dina Meyer never seems too sure about what kind of film she's in and plays it far too straight, at times slowing the film down with her inability to move with the flow of the actors around her. While Sisto and his sidekick, portrayed with great enjoyment by Brian J. White, take the film and have a wonderful time chasing the equally fun Stormare around town, Meyer seems bored and at times perplexed by the direction of the film. Which is a shame, for her character should have been more than a signal for a bathroom break or a run to the fridge.
Being a film fan can be tough, especially today where giant movie theaters waste multiple screens on garbage like "Mission Impossible 3" or the latest DreamWorks CGI mess. But once in a great while a movie will come out of nowhere, grab you, and make you thankful that Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers existed. In many ways "The Movie Hero" is such a film. Featuring a great script, deft direction, and an extremely charismatic leading man, "Movie Hero" is without a doubt one of the most unexpected finds of the year. But, much like its main character, "Movie Hero" is not without its share of problems.
The charmingly enigmatic Jeremy Sisto stars as Blake Gardner, a self-confessed "film nut" who is a kooky member of the crazy crowd that flourishes in the mental hospital known as Hollywood. After a bad break up with a longtime girlfriend, Blake begins to see visions of an audience in front of him and starts to believe that he is the hero in a movie about himself. Believing that a suspicious character (Peter Stormare) is up to no good, Blake decides that it's his responsibility as the star of his film to find out what he is up to. Following a physical encounter with the suspicious character that leads to police involvement, Blake is forced to see psychiatrist Elizabeth Orlando (Diana Meyer). As a rookie therapist, Elizabeth has trouble separating herself from the charming Blake, especially once he begins to believe that she must be his "character's" love interest and spends the rest of the film referring to her as such. Blake then hires a sidekick and spends the rest of the film tracking the activities of the suspicious character while trying to convince his love interest that her movie-hating fiancé is the wrong man for her and that she should spend the rest of her life starring opposite himself.
Having Blake break the fourth wall and spend the majority of the film talking to the audience was quite a chance on the part of writer and first-time director Brad T. Gottfred. Luckily, Gottfred's script goes out of its way to profess its undying love for all of cinema, and it comes across completely genuine. courtesy of the severely underrated Sisto. One of the most refreshing aspects of Blake's character is his constant need to not let his audience be bored by clichés. Blake groans in disgust when two cops are forced to spill coffee on themselves, and he refuses to hire a hip black man as his sidekick, stating that it's been done to death. All of these actions show a love and knowledge for both Blake's audience and Gottfred's.
But as original and unique as "The Movie Hero" is, it lets itself fall into several classic and quite generic traps. The love story between Blake and his love interest, while at the center of the film, is the least interesting aspect of the movie. This pitfall could have been avoided by casting a more sincere or believable actress opposite Sisto. Dina Meyer never seems too sure about what kind of film she's in and plays it far too straight, at times slowing the film down with her inability to move with the flow of the actors around her. While Sisto and his sidekick, portrayed with great enjoyment by Brian J. White, take the film and have a wonderful time chasing the equally fun Stormare around town, Meyer seems bored and at times perplexed by the direction of the film. Which is a shame, for her character should have been more than a signal for a bathroom break or a run to the fridge.
The charmingly enigmatic Jeremy Sisto stars as Blake Gardner, a self-confessed "film nut" who is a kooky member of the crazy crowd that flourishes in the mental hospital known as Hollywood. After a bad break up with a longtime girlfriend, Blake begins to see visions of an audience in front of him and starts to believe that he is the hero in a movie about himself. Believing that a suspicious character (Peter Stormare) is up to no good, Blake decides that it's his responsibility as the star of his film to find out what he is up to. Following a physical encounter with the suspicious character that leads to police involvement, Blake is forced to see psychiatrist Elizabeth Orlando (Diana Meyer). As a rookie therapist, Elizabeth has trouble separating herself from the charming Blake, especially once he begins to believe that she must be his "character's" love interest and spends the rest of the film referring to her as such. Blake then hires a sidekick and spends the rest of the film tracking the activities of the suspicious character while trying to convince his love interest that her movie-hating fiancé is the wrong man for her and that she should spend the rest of her life starring opposite himself.
Having Blake break the fourth wall and spend the majority of the film talking to the audience was quite a chance on the part of writer and first-time director Brad T. Gottfred. Luckily, Gottfred's script goes out of its way to profess its undying love for all of cinema, and it comes across completely genuine. courtesy of the severely underrated Sisto. One of the most refreshing aspects of Blake's character is his constant need to not let his audience be bored by clichés. Blake groans in disgust when two cops are forced to spill coffee on themselves, and he refuses to hire a hip black man as his sidekick, stating that it's been done to death. All of these actions show a love and knowledge for both Blake's audience and Gottfred's.
But as original and unique as "The Movie Hero" is, it lets itself fall into several classic and quite generic traps. The love story between Blake and his love interest, while at the center of the film, is the least interesting aspect of the movie. This pitfall could have been avoided by casting a more sincere or believable actress opposite Sisto. Dina Meyer never seems too sure about what kind of film she's in and plays it far too straight, at times slowing the film down with her inability to move with the flow of the actors around her. While Sisto and his sidekick, portrayed with great enjoyment by Brian J. White, take the film and have a wonderful time chasing the equally fun Stormare around town, Meyer seems bored and at times perplexed by the direction of the film. Which is a shame, for her character should have been more than a signal for a bathroom break or a run to the fridge.
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