Accidental Hero

Comedy, Drama

Dustin Hoffman	Bernard 'Bernie' Laplante
Geena Davis	Gale Gayley, Channel 4 News Reporter
Andy Garcia	John Bubber
Joan Cusack	Evelyn Laplante
Kevin J. O'Connor	Chucky, Channel 4 News Cameraman
Maury Chaykin	Winston, Bernie's Landlord
Stephen Tobolowsky	James Wallace, Channel 4 Station Manager
Christian Clemenson	James Conklin, Channel 4 News Reporter
Tom Arnold	Chick, Bartender
Warren Berlinger	Judge Goines
Cady Huffman	Flight Attendant Leslie Sugar
Susie Cusack	Donna O'Day, Bernie's Public Defender
James Madio	Joey Laplante, Bernie's Son
Richard Riehle	Robinson, Bernie's Boss
Daniel Baldwin	Fireman Denton
Don Yesso	Elliott the Fireman, Evelyn's Boyfriend
Don Pugsley	Jury Foreman
Lee Wilkof	Prosecutor
Steven Elkins	Bailiff #1
Leslie Jordan	Court Official

Director	Stephen Frears
Producer	Joseph M. Caracciolo; Sandy Isaac
Writer	Laura Ziskin; Alvin Sargent

Dustin Hoffman plays a lowlife who happens upon a plane crash and rescues the passengers, but doesn't really care about the value of his deed or the attendant publicity when the media starts searching for the hero. Another fellow (Andy Garcia) steps into the gap and claims credit, and as his life changes for the better he takes on a Messianic glow. Geena Davis is the cynical television reporter who pushes the latter's fame in order to keep her story alive, and this film, directed by Stephen Frears (Prick Up Your Ears), takes a few familiar jabs at a manipulative and voyeuristic press. This is essentially an unofficial remake of Meet John Doe, though it is less dramatic and forceful in the end than Frank Capra's classic. Chevy Chase has an oddly anachronistic part as Davis' editor (maybe he thought he really was in Meet John Doe), but the film belongs to Hoffman, who makes his character a slightly cleaned-up version of the actor's own Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy. --Tom Keogh