Hero Wanted (2008)

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

Fmovies: Liam Case (Gooding) is shot and left for dead during a botched bank robbery. When healed, he decides to go after the robbers.

This is a very violent film so be prepared. For the longest time you have no real idea what is going on. It's like watching something in a time continuum kind of thing as in CRASH and VANTAGE POINT, and it doesn't straighten out until the last 20-minutes or so. But, as back and forth and as violent as this is, there is entertainment value in here. And, once you see the twist, all becomes very clear.

Cuba Gooding is one of those actors who could be nominated for an Oscar for any movie he is in. The movie may be bad, but he is always good and that cannot be said of too many. Ray Liotta is always fun to watch and one day someone will realize he, too, is an Oscar caliber actor. I was surprised to see Jean Smart in this. I almost didn't recognize her, but once I heard that voice, I knew it was her. She is terrific. And, Sammi Hanratty will be at the finish line along with Dakota Fanning and Abagail Breslin. The rest of the cast, the bad guys for the most part, were all terrific.

When you see Ben Cross you ask yourself, why don't we see more of him. He is a class act.

Violence: Very violent Sex: No. Nudity: Yes, you briefly see some pole dancers on a TV screen. Language: Yes.

There's some real depth to Hero Wanted, but it's often buried under contrived and clichéd writing. The characters are interesting, but much of their development depends on plot elements that didn't really make too much sense. Still, if you're more interested in the themes and characters than you are in the actual plot, this movie can work for you.

The story is kind of interesting, but it's a bit complicated. Basically, Cuba Gooding, Jr plays a depressed loser who seeks meaning in his life, after terrible loss. Finding his inspiration, he is torn between seeking redemption and revenge, when it is taken away from him. Sounds kind of interesting, right? Well, the execution is a bit flawed, but I did appreciate the attempt to give me more than a basic, streamlined revenge movie.

Cuba Gooding, Jr has done quite a few of these direct-to-video action movies, and all have been flawed in some way. Still, I like him (and Ray Liotta) enough that I'll continue to watch them, even though they tend to get rated rather poorly on the IMDb. If you're the same way, then I recommend Hero Wanted. If not, maybe it's best that you just avoid it.

Hero Wanted fmovies. i have just watched this movie expecting a lot more than i got! it is amateurish and an insult to all movie goers intelligence. i expected so much more from Cuba Gooding. What is it these days with movie makers trying to be clever with their time shifting. I have no trouble following their efforts at trying to be clever but find it unnecessary and boring.The flawed hero idea and revenge concept never hits the mark and while most of us enjoy a good old revenge movie this one doesn't pull it off. It felt like a B movie and in the end thats what it was, save your money and don't waste your time with this one. Shame on Cuba Gooding for making it

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.

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.