Camera work on the opening shot is just awesome. Was is a solid straight camera leading from the street, through the apartment, out the alley, down the lane and back into the street? If it was, I think that was just a fantastic piece of direction, even though the apartment and alley didn't hold any value, but the camera work was really cool. Overall, I liked the film a lot and thought the story was really well and most of the characters were written and portrayed good. There was some overkill on the gunfire and the standard overdone nightclub gangster stuff, but in general, the rest was really good. What I am trying to understand is why a bunch of movies are being filmed in Bulgaria now to represent an American city. With a 12 million budget, filming in some small town in the US or Canada would definitely cover the bill, but a bunch of shoots are being flown overseas...how does that help on budgeting? Really...it loses it's originality. I remember times when Vancouver would portray New York or Detroit...and while that was not fit either...Bulgaria certainly doesn't cut as inner city America or Canada at all...just the little details that make it not gel. Aside from a few minor things, I think it's an overall good production with a great opening shot.

How did this movie make it to the shelf at my local video store? A decent movie needs 2 of 3 things. Those things are 1. Dialog 2. Filmography 3. Acting. I rate them either pass or fail. Keep in mind that i'm a movie lover and I enjoy watching movies. I don't always need to watch an A+ movie. I can be happy with a D+ sometimes. 1. Dialog/script: Failed. Unbelievable. Unconviencing. Uneducated. 2. Filmograpy: Failed. It just wasn't interesting enough to make up for the failed dialog. 3. Acting: Pass. Even with crappy lines, the actors add some credibility to the over all film. I believe that the script is the heart of any movie. If the script is good I can deal with bad acting. Or sometimes if the filmography is awesome I can deal a bad script. There are good things to pull away from this movie. Even if those things are the "what not to do next times". If want to watch a bad movie. This is a good one!

I saw the movie twice! I really enjoyed it! I love how the film was made with the flash backs, love the music, the action and love the actors! The story captivated me. As well as Gill's voice (Gary Cairns ). In the scene on the covered bridge, where the guys decided to break the bank, Gill has something very strong and intense in his eyes. All the actors played so well! Especially Cuba Gooding, Tommy Flanagan, Sammi the little girl, Gary Cairns and Norman Reedus.I recommend the movie to everyone. The film started with a nice scene. I really liked how the camera moved around...the following scene are gorgeous! The scene with the little girl in the car is Grandiose! Maybe a little bit to much! I thought taht the girl would never survive that accident!

While grieving the death of his beloved wife, who drowned in a car accident, the garbage man Liam Case (Cuba Gooding Jr.) becomes a hero when he saves a young girl from a wrecked car on fire. Years later, Liam has a secret crush on the bank teller Kayla (Christa Campbell) and while in the bank with her, there is a heist and one of the five thieves shoots Kayla and Liam. When he recovers, Kayla is in a deep coma and he chases the killer; but the gang has a dark secret about Liam and goes after him seeking revenge. My first impression of "Hero Wanted" was not good, with the confused non-linear story and a disappointing conclusion. However, joining the pieces of the puzzle that compose the story later, I found it a reasonable film, at least the intentions of the writers are good. But the tag-line says that "the road to hell is paved of good intentions" and the screenplay does not work well. Cuba Gooding Jr. is and performs a charismatic character that finds redemption only after going to hell. Apparently his friend Cosmo Jackson died, but this character is simply forgotten in the end of the story. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Herói" ("Hero")

this COULD have had been great . the problem here is the convoluted plot, great script but poorly adjusted for any feature(no matter what the budget might/could been). however the plot and directions DO have their "moments" and i think Cuba Gooding Jr. is exceptionally great here . Ben Cross to some extent as well, but then again. the problem is that the plot does not develops the secondary characters enough to even give actors the chance to "play it". we have Ray Liotta as the best example of such underused and/or wasted actor/character "tallents". he might as well not be in the feature at all, i would not see the difference ; as a matter of a fact a "no name" might be able to be pulling his act with less damage to the movie's rating overall. in my personal opinion this is a guy's movie. it is NOT the "mobster" type even if has strong such elements, and even leads to get that "vibe" at first. the start looks very promising, then about 40 minutes of "flash backs|( i think they were inserted just to make the story "longer"); then again about 10 minutes of interesting thoughts( that will make you consider this not as "bad" as might seem), only to disappoint towards end by typical "b-movie" shot executions. however the last 2 scenes might leave a great impressions since , i believe, the morals and ethics here are well determined. all inn all this should had been, at best, a 30 minutes short movie and might had even been considered for "awards". but instead is fully commercialized as for "one time pay/view" and then to be "discared

I usually like the leads and the acting wasn't too bad but the plot and scripting was too ridiculous to hold your attention too long, especially for the last 20 minutes. I just wanted it to be over. The junior bad guy just shows up in a bar and demands a meeting from one of the really tough guys. Who promptly dumps the woman he is with to listen to junior. And what is the message? That junior wants to meet the next day. Wow. So they meet the next day and after some tough talk they decide to pull a bank job based on some information from some guy that only Junior knows. Why? Because Junior insists "he knows all the security and routines". It's hard not to ask whether guys this stupid can make it out of their teens. And then after Gooding has killed a few of them, instead of just tracking him down and putting a bullet in his head they kidnap a little girl. Why make things so complicated? Apparently the only reason is to make us loathe them even more, but it comes across as another example of just too dumb to believe. A cheap ploy by a film that tries to take itself way too seriously. And we haven't even gotten to the shootout, where a guy yells stereotypic tough guy lines, then escapes the half dozen cops that are shooting at him by getting up and walking into the next room where he can take on the hero one on one. Or the reprise of the little girl. By that time I had the sound on and the video off and was reading email, waiting for the dumb thing to be over. I gave it a heartfelt 3. For Liotta and Gooding to be involved with this turkey should be an embarrassment to them both. Good grief.

There are no great surprises in this,but i did overall enjoy it non-the-less. Before i watched it i had read a review on here referring to it as nothing more than a B movie,and that cuba should never have agreed to do it,but it is better than that-not a great deal admittedly,but definitely better. The story is told in flashbacks a lot,which is over used these days,but it does have the effect its supposed to without being confusing.(however because its so linear in its style it doesn't leave any great surprises. Its a watchable film with OK acting and OK script,which is a lot better than a lot of the stuff around these days so i was happy with it and gave a reasonable 6 out of 10,missing 7 only because it was reasonable rather than actually good.

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. Seemed to me to have a B movie feel starting out. It does seem like everyone is into the time shifting plots these days, but once I realized it everything else seemed to follow. I found myself trying to anticipate the next connection of pass and present. Cuba Gooding Jr. did a good job of portraying a man tortured with his pass and present. I do have to take exception to the bar scenes though. I'm not sure that Ray Liota needed to bulk up for the part but he did. Jean Smart had me kind of wondering what was going to happen in the apartment scene. Although there is predominately a U.S. cast, I think the feel of the movie was off because it was filmed in eastern Europe. Straight to DVD but worth the watch in my opinion.

Trailer—Hero Wanted