Lee Hayden (Sam Elliot) is an actor long past his prime and now reduced to voice work for Lone Star BBQ Sauce. That his prime is a distant memory becomes all the more painful when he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He explains that he is proud of only one role in his career, a movie he made 40 years ago, The Hero. With little time left to him, he seeks to mend fences with his daughter, gets involved in a relationship with a younger woman, attends a Western gala, and even gets high on mushrooms. His drug dealer (Nick Offerman) is a younger actor who stared with him in a TV show many years ago. Through him, Lee meets Charlotte (Laura Prepon), a comedienne who likes to pop pills and even convinces Lee to give it a try.
There was one point in the film that was SO predictable that I was extremely irritated when it was set up. Sure, he could meet his daughter on Tuesday. Oh, he missed the date? Oh, honey, I screwed up and I'm so sorry. That scene is so hackneyed that its use automatically knocks a film down a full point on the 1 to 10 scale. I frowned when his daughter was shown sitting alone at the restaurant, rolled my eyes when he was too high from mushrooms to answer his cell phone, and sighed heavily when he left an apology on her voicemail. "I'm so sorry." Ugh!
For never explained reasons, at least none I could discern, Lee frequently dreams of his time in The Hero, replaying scenes though he is his current age in these remembrances. Is this his life flashing before his eyes? Remembering the glory days?
Except for the fact that he is being played by Sam Elliot, Lee Hayden is not a likeable man. He smokes pot daily, drinks excessively, has a miserable relationship with his daughter, and a tense one with his ex-wife. He essentially blackmails his ex-wife and daughter into forgiving him by telling them he's dying. By the end of the movie, he has ruined his chances for a renaissance in his career and is once again pitching BBQ sauce but at least he's got a sweet young thing to keep the bed warm.
Not a bad film but not particularly good either. Skip this one.
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