…………………………………………………

A Hero Movie Review

A Hero is a 2021 Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Amir Jadidi. It’s one of the most disappointing movies of the year.

Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum, however things don’t go as planned. I have read many times online that apparently many Iranians themselves are not fans of Farhadi’s movies. This usually happens – the most iconic director of a country isn’t as respected in his or her home country.

………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………..

But there is one criticism of his movies coming from this country’s citizens that really stuck with me and now I definitely see it and that is the implausibility and contrived nature of his movies’ storylines. I hadn’t seen it before as I loved most of his previous movies, but now I can see that argument as A Hero is very contrived.

You have this guy who loses everything within a very short notice and through so many contrived circumstances that I was really wondering watching the movie how only a few people realized this. I just did not buy this plot, I am sorry. I tried to buy it, but I just couldn’t. Most of the plot points in the second half in particular felt very emotionally manipulative and unrealistic.

I am not a fan of movies that pile upon misfortune after misfortune on their protagonists in order to evoke sympathy for viewers. This film goes even further by focusing so heavily on the negative attitudes of the many characters toward the protagonist that it has this very unfortunate nihilistic and misanthropic streak that I personally found overwhelming.

………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………..

Amir Jadidi is excellent in the main role and quite believable. I did find the character’s constant smiling annoying, but he is still well written and you definitely do root for the guy. The female characters are also very well realized while the whole idea on what it means to be a hero was so well explored.

This central idea was wonderfully explored. I wish that the plot surrounding this theme was as well handled, but at least the movie cleverly showcases the complicated opinions people hold of those who do a heroic act. Are they doing it for fame, for themselves or are they doing it spontaneously because of their innate goodness of heart? This is very well touched upon and the movie’s moral ambiguity was surprising and intriguing.

There is no denying that the movie has its many sophisticated moments and excellent dialogue throughout, but still the story could not a hold a candle to all these themes. Those in charge of the the protagonist’s journey also felt overly negatively portrayed and simply not all that realistic.

………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………..

At the end of the day, A Hero is superbly made with great cinematography, strong editing and excellent acting across the board. But the repetitiveness of its structure coupled with the contrived nature of the plot made it very frustrating to watch. This is certainly a far from cry from his previous movie ‘The Salesman’ and I hope that Farhadi will return to greatness with his next feature, but this one is sitting squarely among his weakest efforts unfortunately.

It pains me to say this as a huge Asghar Farhadi fan, but A Hero simply isn’t all that great. The acting, the cinematography and the dialogue are all reliably strong while the central theme of what it means to be a hero and how these acts are perceived by others is superbly explored. However, the film’s repetitive structure and a highly contrived, almost implausible nature of its plot made it a frustrating watch. Farhadi just piled misfortune after misfortune upon the protagonist in order to elicit an emotional response, but this approach ended up annoying me more than anything else. It’s such a disappointing movie.

My Rating – 3.5