Everyone talks to himself or herself. Whether it’s a running stream of consciousness commentary play-by-playing inside our heads or whether we speak out loud to the disinterested stares of our cats, dogs, goldfish or our own reflections in the mirror, our inner voices keep us grounded throughout our daily journeys.
Yet, what if that inner voice belonged to a real hardcore movie geek; the kind of guy or gal who goes to the theater at least once a week to consume Hollywood’s latest or indie film’s greatest while gorging themselves on buttery popcorn washed down by a $4 soft drink chaser? How might these people’s inner voices deal with the world around them? Probably pretty much the way Blake (Jeremy Sisto) does.
For Blake, life is not just like a movie. To him, it IS a movie; a widescreen Technicolor extravaganza in which he’s the hero and everyone has their roles. We, the viewer of director Brad T. Gottfred’s gradually ingratiating comedy, are Blake’s audience, the people around him his Supporting Cast. There’s his sidekick, Antoine (Brian White), the evil Suspicious Character (Peter Stormare), his Love Interest (Dina Meyer), AKA his therapist who’s trying to get to the bottom of Blake’s delusions, and, of course, his Love Interest’s Doomed Fiance (Carlos Jacolt).
Adding an extra philosophical layer to the proceedings, however, is Blake’s insistence that everyone, especially we, the viewers, has their own audience to play to. Forget about the director’s ego, let alone that of the movie star, this is an egomaniac’s narcissistic wet dream. All the world’s a stage…and we’re ALL stars!
Full of smug, self-indulgent industry in-jokes, “The Movie Hero” is exactly the kind of movie I usually despise. Much to my surprise, this film actually had some soul to it. Granted, it would have made a much better short film than a feature. But thanks primarily to Sisto’s earnest goofiness and the film’s sweet tone, reminiscent of the similar, nearly forgotten classic “The Wizard of Speed and Time,” “The Movie Hero” is worth at least a Saturday matinee. Pass the popcorn.
