OCCIDENTAL HERO

Semi-clever movie that tries hard to be another Capricorn One in being a disquisition on lies that tell the truth.

In common with this theme, the movie itself is a lie which tries to tell the truth in a futile attempt to resurrect the spirit of Frank Capra. The claim that heroes are so desperately needed in a cynical Western culture is not fully explored and the characters never come to life as they should in a story of the essence of humanity. The communitarianism of the plot is insincere since it does not define heroism - especially its inherent irrationality. The point about our need of heroes who look like heroes; that is, are as attractive physically as they are ethically is well made, but the glosses over the reality of most people's lives in a typically superficial Hollywood manner.

Rather a waste of first-rate actors in a story that is also about the redemption of a father who (like the Dad in Close Encounters of the Third Kind) abandons his wife and son to a life of petty crime. There are, in fact, too many themes at odds with one another here - with none examined in sufficient dramatic depth.