HERO

Cinemavixion Review

Fans of Jim Jarmusch's 'Stranger Than Paradise' and Wim Wenders' 'Paris, Texas' will find much to admire in Alexandre Rockwell's 'Hero,' an enigmatic and largely forgotten road movie that offers a poignant glimpse into the early career of a unique American independent filmmaker. Shot by renowned cinematographer Robert Yeoman, who would later become a frequent collaborator of Wes Anderson, this debut feature, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance, showcases Rockwell's understated aesthetic and his willingness to experiment with unconventional narratives and production methods outside the Hollywood system. The film's rangy, offhandedly eccentric story follows a disabled teenager and his older adoptive sisters. When a protective-services bureaucrat deems them "not our idea of a normal family," they shed their gloomy urban confines and set out for the whimsically named town of Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. Along the way, their journey is defined not by grand events, but by a series of offbeat encounters and the internal dynamics of their unconventional family. 'Hero' is a quiet and contemplative exploration of their quest for identity and acceptance in a world that often struggles to see them for who they are.