Unlikely Hero

Original title: Paper Man

2009
15
1h 50m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Jeff Daniels and Ryan Reynolds in Unlikely Hero (2009)

A coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary superhero friend.

Play trailer2:28

6 Videos

59 Photos

Comedy Drama

A washed-up writer forms an unlikely friendship with a teenager from Long Island.A washed-up writer forms an unlikely friendship with a teenager from Long Island.A washed-up writer forms an unlikely friendship with a teenager from Long Island.

Directors
- Kieran Mulroney
- Michele Mulroney
Writers
- Michele Mulroney
- Kieran Mulroney
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Kieran Mulroney
- Michele Mulroney
Writers
- Michele Mulroney
- Kieran Mulroney
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Videos6

Photos59

+ 52

More like this

6.6

6.2

6.2

6.4

6.4

6.4

Fireflies in the Garden

6.1

6.4

6.8

5.8

6.4

6.4

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Second film that Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow appear in together; the other is Easy A (2010).

Goofs
Richard's first beer is draft perfect, then the bartender holds a bad beer in his hands. In the next shot, it is perfect again. The next shot shows the bad beer again, and then it even dies completely (and there's less beer) in Richard hands, only to be perfect again when he takes his first sip.

Quotes
[Abby is reading Richard's last letter]
Richard Dunn: Richard regarded his solitude as something sacred as a well earned badge of honor, a cloak to be worn to ward off life. As his safety. Solitude is who he was. This caused those in his life to view him with a barely veiled contempt. Richard was certain that he was not liked, which is hard on a man. *Maybe* it was because he gave nothing that he received nothing in return. In any case, his situation had become intolerable. The closest things he had to friends were either imaginary or extinct. And Richard had reached a point in his life where this was no longer enough. And then he met a girl... And she was warm. And she was sad. And she was maybe lonely in a way that reminded him of himself. She'd lost things that a girl should never have lost. And she knew things. And she taught him. And Richard thought: "Maybe this is what friendship feels like. Maybe." It was just a glimpse, they'd barely begun, really. But in those long, few winter days, she'd given him so much. Enough so that Richard could go on. And what had he given her? Just a few words on a page. Not much, perhaps. But for Abby, he hoped it was enough.

Crazy credits
Captain Excellent makes a final appearance as the end credits begin.

Connections
Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Kick-Ass/Death at a Funeral/The Joneses (2010)

Soundtracks
Bluebird of Happiness
Written by Neil Halstead & Ian McCutcheon
Performed by Mojave 3
Courtesy of 4AD LTD.

User reviews80

Review

Featured review

7/10

What were the marketing department doing?

Rule 1, never watch a trailer, I watched it AFTER watching the film and am seriously questioning the mental state of the head of marketing of this film. It is not a comedy, it is a character piece, a drama I guess, but NOT A COMEDY.

It's good, I liked it, for me a 7/10 is a solid film, not bad, but not a a masterpiece. The strength comes from the amazingly good acting and writing. It makes you feel stuff, including awkward, which is good, because that is what movies are supposed to do. Don't be swayed, everything in this film is deliberate, if you felt it, the director wanted you to feel it, that is what good films do.

As I said, acting and writing is superb, and it really comes together in the last act. Starts slow, but it's not boring, just hang on.

I think Captain Excellent works, I don't really know why other people think it didn't, but I never mind breaking the immersion of reality in films.

Good film, go watch if you like characters and stuff.