Rent Accidental Hero (1992)

Being Frank - Accidental Hero review by Steve

It's a hard world to get a break in... Everyone is searching for something - or someone- to make a better future seem possible; a New Deal to unite the whole country. Yes, this little known sleeper re-imagines a depression era Frank Capra comedy for the ordinary underdog traumatised by eight years of divisive Reaganomics.

Dustin Hoffman plays a petty crook who enters a burning plane crash and steals a purse, while anonymously/incidentally saving all the passengers, including Geena Davis, a determined newshound with a heart. Yes, she's our Barbara Stanwyck! Andy Garcia is a homeless Vietnam vet who claims the reward because he's broke.

Or more thrillingly, he assumes the Gary Cooper role in Meet John Doe (1941). Hoffman almost wrecks the film with a clumsy performance that sends up the script. But it survives. This is optimistic, feelgood Capra for a new economic recession. Heck a brass band plays Auld Lang Syne at the climax! And then, there's a clever bonus...

Famously Meet John Doe had no possible ending that complied with the Production Code. The studio even failed to overcome the obstacle by running a competition. Fifty years on, this has another go. And it's better, though still the weakest part of a satirical comedy which mysteriously flunked but deserves a second chance.