Product Details

• Actors: Jeremy Sisto, Dina Meyer, Peter Stormare, Brian White, Carlos Jacott
• Directors: Brad T. Gottfred
• Writers: Brad T. Gottfred
• Producers: Peter Stormare, Brad T. Gottfred, Alex Sulaimani, D'Arcy Conrique, Michael Philip
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: November 7, 2006
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000H1RFTG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,782 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Movie Hero" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Blake Gardner, a young Hollywood eccentric, believes his entire life is a movie being watched by an audience only he can see. Only now in Blake’s strange world, there’s a Suspicious Character, a resourceful Sidekick, and even a beautiful therapist who might just be his Love Interest. For anybody who thinks they’re somebody, happiness may not be a delusion. Features

Widescreen Presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Still Gallery

Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Brad T. Gottfred

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Premise With An Uncertain Execution--A Heroic Effort That Just Didn't Work, March 21, 2007

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Movie Hero (DVD)

As odd as it might sound, I was rooting for The Movie Hero from the instant it began. Even though I had never heard of this extremely small, and quite odd, picture--its opening boldly declared a love of movies that I share wholeheartedly. I thought that, perhaps, the filmmakers and I were simpatico in our passion for cinema. And I had hoped that this perceived bond would cause me to love The Movie Hero. After all, this is the protagonist's response when his date does not want to share a film with him--"What if this movie held the answer to the universe? That's why you have to see every one." Boy, do I know how he feels. However, the hero's logic is flawed. Seeing every movie can lead to disappointment, as well. And, ultimately, disappointment is the primary emotion I endured as I continued to watch Hero beyond its promising beginning.

The setup of The Movie Hero sounds interesting. The hero (Jeremy Sisto) haunts the streets of Hollywood speaking directly to the screen. He believes that he is in a film, being watched at all times by a mysterious and unseen group (his personal audience). All his dialogue is focused at the camera and, in essence, he is addressing us as his viewers. Sisto is so convinced that he is performing in a movie that he enlists a sidekick, trails a suspicious villain, and makes romance with a conveniently placed love interest (who just happens to be his therapist). It may not sound terrible, but nothing quite connects in this picture. It is a difficult concept to execute, at best, but the tone of The Movie Hero is so fanciful--the film starts to feel like one very long joke. In musical terms, it's one note played over and over until your senses are so dulled that you just want it to end. Truly, if Sisto talked about his "audience" one more time, I might simply have done away with myself. Besides being repetitive, the film is also far too precious and self-congratulatory. I know we're meant to delight at the absurdity--but maybe that's just it, it just doesn't go far enough. Even the absurdity is predictable.

I imagine this was conceived as a Charlie Kaufman-esque type of story, but it lacks the spontaneity and wit that Kaufman has employed to good effect. I do credit the writer/director, Brad Gottfred, for attempting something different. At least there is a point of view--and I wish much success for his next endeavor, but this was all a bit of a muddle for me. Sisto, as well, was an unlikely fit for this light and frothy subject matter. I have been a fan of his since Grand Canyon when he was a teenager. Appealing mostly for his intensity, he has had great adult roles in Six Feet Under and on stage in Take Me Out--but lacks a light comedic touch (or loopiness) that might have taken this to the next level. Some may find charm in The Movie Hero--in fact, I hope they do. But I'm sorry, none of it really worked for me. KGHarris, 03/07.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars brilliant idea; surprisingly great movie, January 26, 2007

By 

i devour books (SoCal USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Movie Hero (DVD)

While this movie lacks A-list stars, it is surprisingly good comedy! It's a fun movie with the lead character talking to the camera a'la Ferris Bueller. Too bad this didn't get a wide release.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood Quixote, August 22, 2011

By 

Phil Wernig (Canyon Country, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Movie Hero (DVD)

Your life is a movie. You are the star. Naturally, you are heroic - noble, dauntless, brimming with optimism. It is your task to keep your audience entertained by inventing exciting plots and to keep them informed of all the developments, which you do by addressing them directly, regardless who might be within earshot. You have identified a suspicious character who is up to no good. You need a humorous sidekick to watch your back and set up your punch lines with his "irreverent wit." Most of all, you need a love interest, because what movie worth living doesn't have one?
You fall to your knees in the aisle of an empty temple of cinema, popcorn and soda in hand, and pray: "Our movie, which art on screen, hallowed by thy name. Thy time has come. Thy will be shown in theaters as well as home. Give us this day our daily film and forgive us our bad choices, as we forgive those whose movies were so bad to choose. And lead us not into television, but deliver us from that evil, for movies are the picture and the sound and the greatest thing in the whole wide world forever and ever. Movies rule."
Not everyone understands you. Although everyone is the star of their own movie and has their own audience, you are among the few who realize it. You are not discouraged that you are surrounded by the oblivious. You cheerfully accept the burden of clarity. You must stymie the Suspicious Character and steal the heart of your Love Interest from her Doomed Fiance. You are Blake Gardner, Movie Hero.
You are, of course, as crazy as a bucket of crickets. That is why you occasionally bump heads with the law and why you have a court-appointed therapist. Backed into rationalization by Doctor Orlando, you voice that most perplexing question, "What am I supposed to do with my life that will make me worthy of the life I was given?"
In "The Movie Hero" (2003), writer-director Brad T. Gottfred transplants "Don Quixote De La Mancha" from the fertile plains of 17th century Castile to the sun-splashed boulevards of 21st century Hollywood. Cervantes' timeless satire on romance and adventure speaks to our dreams of greatness, of being something more than our simple self. Don Quixote's mind is overheated, addled by all the tales he has devoured of knights, damsels, and chivalry. Blake Gardner, inspired by movies, yearns for purpose, but will settle for assurance. He pleads with Doctor Orlando, "Show me I'm not crazy. Show me I'm not a fool."
Jeremy Sisto is the amiably deranged Blake, seizing the role con mucho gusto. Brian White is his sensible Sidekick Antoine. A breathless Dina Meyer plays Blake's therapist and Love Interest, Elizabeth Orlando, while Carlos Jacott is her patronizing, movie-hating Doomed Fiance. Red guitar toting Peter Stormare, in black trench coat and black car is, as always, a perfect Suspicious Character.