My Father the Hero (1994 film)

My Father the Hero is a 1994 French-American comedy-drama directed by Steve Miner and starring Gérard Depardieu and Katherine Heigl. It is an English-language remake of the 1991 French film Mon père, ce héros, which also starred Depardieu.

My Father the Hero
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Steve Miner
Produced by	Jacques Bar Jean-Louis Livi
Screenplay by	Francis Veber Charlie Peters
Based on	Mon père, ce héros by Gérard Lauzier
Starring	Gérard Depardieu Katherine Heigl
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	Daryn Okada
Edited by	Marshall Harvey
Production company	Touchstone Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date	February 4, 1994
Running time	90 minutes
Country	France United States
Language	French English
Box office	$25,479,558 (US)[1]

Plot

André Arnel (Gérard Depardieu), a Frenchman divorced from his wife, takes his teenage daughter, Nicole (Katherine Heigl), on vacation with him to The Bahamas. She is desperate to appear as a woman and not a girl, so in order to impress a local boy Ben (Dalton James), she makes up more and more ridiculous stories, starting with André being her lover and leading to some bizarre assumptions by the rest of the community.

André is desperate to make Nicole happy (especially as she is increasingly upset by his relationship with girlfriend Isobel) and so plays along with her crazy games, and the stories they make up get increasingly bizarre.

Cast

• Gérard Depardieu as André Arnel, Nicole's father
• Katherine Heigl as Nicole Arnel, André's daughter
• Dalton James as Ben
• Lauren Hutton as Megan Arnel, André's ex-wife and Nicole's mother
• Faith Prince as Diana
• Stephen Tobolowsky as Mike
• Ann Hearn as Stella
• Robyn Peterson as Doris
• Frank Renzulli as Fred
• Manny Jacobs as Raymond
• Jeffrey Chea as Pablo
• Stephen Burrows as Hakim
• Michael Robinson as Tom
• Robert Miner as Mr. Porter
• Betty Miner as Mrs. Porter
• Emma Thompson as Isobel, André's girlfriend (uncredited)
• Roberto Escobar as Alberto

Filming

Filming occurred during the summer of 1993.

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at No. 4 behind Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Mrs. Doubtfire and Philadelphia.[2]

Critical response

The film received negative reviews from critics.[3][4][5] On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 14%, based on 14 reviews, with an average score of 3.8/10.[6]

Year-end lists

• Top 10 worst (alphabetical order, not ranked) – William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer[7]

Soundtrack

The film featured music and appearances by the Baha Men. The group's songs create the movie's island soundtrack.

• "Back to the Island"
• "Mo' Junkanoo"
• "Gin and Coconut Water (Traditional)"
• "Land of the Sea and Sun"
• "Oh, Father"
• "Island Boy"

References

1. "My Father, the Hero". Box Office Mojo. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
2. Fox, David J. (February 8, 1994). "Weekend Box Office : 'Ace Ventura' Detects a Winning Take". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
3. Maslin, Janet (February 4, 1994). "Review/Film; Depardieu's Bahamian Vacation". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
4. Rainer, Peter (February 4, 1994). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'My Father' a Sordid Remake of a Sex Comedy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
5. Ebert, Roger (February 4, 1994). "My Father the Hero". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
6. "My Father, the Hero (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
7. Arnold, William (December 30, 1994). "'94 Movies: Best and Worst". Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Final ed.). p. 20.

External links

• My Father the Hero at IMDb
• My Father the Hero at the American Film Institute Catalog
• My Father the Hero at the TCM Movie Database
• My Father the Hero at AllMovie
• My Father, the Hero at Box Office Mojo
• My Father, the Hero at Rotten Tomatoes