Almost Heroes
is a Warner Brothers offering starring the late, great Chris Farley and the great Dune Guy. For some reason, no one has a website devoted to this movie, so apart from the
official site,
this is the only Almost Heroes page on the internet!!!!!
In the annals of American history, two names are known for laying claim to the uncharted American West. Two names stand above all others as the intrepid explorers who forged across the unknown wilds of the Louisiana Purchase, blazing a course through the untamed country to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Two names and two names alone: Lewis and Clark.
Wrong.
Now the true history of the race to express our country's Manifest Destiny from sea to shining sea can finally be told. To the pantheon of American heroes, the two real conquerors of the American frontier can at last be added: Edwards and Hunt. This is their tale.
CHRIS FARLEY
is Bartholomew Hunt, a veteran tracker whose expertise with a musket is matched only by his facility with the bottle.
DUNE GUY
stars as Leslie Edwards, a foppishblowhard out for glory and out of his element as he assembles a band of second-comers and sad-sack cases to head down roaringrapids and over the Rockies. Together, they lead a bickering, brawling and bumbling crew of misfits and miscreants on a trail ofcomic misadventure straight into historic oblivion.
This movie must be seen to be believed. Chris Farley is his usual energetic self, and Dune Guy gets off some great lines. As a comedy tandem they work together perfectly. Fatty and shorty, the classic comedy combination!
Click on the thumbnails below to see larger pictures from "Almost Heroes." If your thirst for discovery still isn't satisfied, check out the reviews below.
Who is responsible for this movie?
"Almost Heroes" is directed by CHRISTOPHER GUEST ("Waiting for Guffman," "The Big Picture") and produced by DENISE Di NOVI ("Little Women," "Batman Returns"). This cross-country comedy is a Turner Picture distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. that also stars EUGENE LEVY and KEVIN DUNN. Behind-the-camera talent includes directors of photography ADAM KIMMEL ("Bed of Roses") and KENNETH MacMILLAN, B.S.C. ("Inventing the Abbotts"), production designer JOSEPH T. GARRITY ("Waiting for Guffman") and editor RONALD ROOSE ("House Arrest").
What was the critical reaction to this movie?
David Kronke, of the Los Angeles Times, faults this film's script and direction, and finds its premise"misguided." Though he thinks Farley fans won't be disappointed, he laments the lack of a single "inspired" moment.
Though she praised the leads' "comic appeal," Anita Gates of the New York Times found the script underdeveloped and the humor utterly "crude." But she noted that while the film is"dopey," it's also "harmless."
For a slightly longer review by Paul Tatara, click on this embarrassed-looking picture of Dune Guy.
After watching the movie several times, I was able to come up with a fairly accurate estimation of the route Edwards and Hunt might have taken to get to the pacific. By the way, did you know "Edwards and Hunt" was the original working title for this film? Ah, what might have been...
