I recently took an annual leave day off from work. The plan was to attend my local independent art-house theater and see a movie that would receive a nomination for some Academy Awards. I watched an early morning showing of Jockey, a quiet, little film in its own right that will be what I review next. Upon leaving, I spotted a poster of A Hero. It was a film I had seen pop in advertisements on some of my other frequently visited movie websites. It had intrigued me, but I knew it was a subtitled (Persian) movie. I need to be in the right mindset, or I’ll get distracted and miss everything. Still, I debated buying a ticket and doing a double feature. But then I saw it was an Amazon Prime movie. I looked up the film on my phone and noticed that the movie was available on Prime starting that day. So, I decided to skip the theater viewing and watch it at home instead. I’m glad I did, but only because the film was a bit longer (127 minutes). I wanted to break it up into a couple of chunks (full transparency, I also took a quick nap between Jockey and A Hero…by the time I started the second movie, I was ready to go).
In a decade where I’ve been craving original movies and in a 20221 release year where the film has been anything but good, both Jockey and A Hero reminded me of why I love watching and reviewing movies. Each will be out of my top three for 2021, but they will both be close. Each will finish in the top ten for sure. As I write this review, I’m still debating which film I enjoyed more. What surprised me the most about Asghar Farhadi’s (A Separation, The Salesman) A Hero was how simple it was in its premise and that this movie had yet to be made. Of course, there have been movies about found money/treasure and the ethical dilemmas associated with whether or not to keep the money or to try to find its rightful owner. In A Hero, protagonist Rahim (newcomer Amir Jadidi) is serving prison time for an unpaid debt to creditor Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh).
We meet Rahim when he is on leave from the prison. I don’t believe we are ever told how long he’s allowed to be out, but it’s fair to assume it’s for a long weekend. With a radiant smile, Rahim doesn’t feel like a man bogged down by grueling prison life. But then again, his sentence is for failing to pay a debt, not a violent crime. But prison is prison, and Rahimplansn to keep from returning once his leave is complete.
While we are with Rahim for every scene in the movie, we never feel like we truly know him, like our protagonist in most films. It’s hinted that he might be a bit of a swindler, which resulted in his sentence. Upon his release, Rahim connects with Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust), his loyal girlfriend. She brings with him a lost handbag. Inside of it is 17 gold coins. When the couple goes to get coins appraised, they learn that the price of gold has plunged. They discover that the coins they thought would cover the debt owed to Bahram will only pay for half. So, they come up with a plan.
Because it’s important to say so, I will include the next part as a spoiler section. I’m not going to give too much away. I won’t necessarily dismiss it if you decide whether or not to see the film. I say this for two reasons. The first is because other critics, such as Richard Roeper and Glenn Kenny (www.rogerebert.com), wrote, in their reviews, more of the story than I typically would expect. The second is because I read their reviews beforehand. So, I was prepared for what the movie was about, which was important.
***Start of Spoilers***
After it was determined that the value of the gold coins that Rahim and Farkhondeh found was not enough to cover the debt owed, Rahim attempts to negotiate with Bahram a plan in which he would pay half with the money he found and half over a defined period after Rahim secured a job. A resentful Bahram, having already been burned and embarrassed once by Rahim, declines the offer. Stuck, Rahim and Farkhondeh concatenate a plan to seek to find the handbag owner, return the found gold coins, and make themselves look like the ultimate humanitarian, receiving recognition. They see the owner, who describes the handbag perfectly and where it was left. The bag with the coins is handed back to the unidentified woman. Awesome, right?
Not quite. The woman disappears, leaving not a trace. Unmarried, Rahim and Farkhondeh try to keep their relationship as quiet as possible, primarily because of the customs of their culture. His story is questioned when Rahim is applying for employment. The woman is nowhere to be found to corroborate the telling of the event. They create false reports to cover accumulating untruths, burying not just Rahim deeper and deeper into a web of coverups but also his family. The prison is also embarrassed as the warden shares the store with the local media. A local charity then helps raise funds to help this new local hero repay his debts. The closer it seems that Rahim is getting out of his current predicament, the more damage he does.
***End of Spoilers***
A Hero is a strong yes for me. As mentioned at the start of this review, I’m surprised this is the first time I have seen a movie like this.; at least not to the extent of the shifts, twists, and turns offered by Farhadi (who also wrote and produced the film). It certainly didn’t feel like it was a hard movie to make. The story was simple enough. The characters were relatively easily defined. Farhadi’s most significant challenge might have been to keep us vested for two hours in a primarily dialogue-driven movie. But, mission accomplished in this hidden little gem.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9.5/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 7.5/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
89.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- A Simple Plan
- The Lunchbox
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Mystic River
- Reservation Road