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''Almost Heroes'' is a 1998 American
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in h ...
, narrated by Guest's friend and frequent collaborator
Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
, and starring
Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...
and
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
. It was Farley's last leading film role and was released following his death in 1997.


Plot

In 1804, Leslie Edwards, a foppish aristocrat, and the loud, low-brow Bartholomew Hunt are competing against the renowned Lewis & Clark to be the first to chart and make it across the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
. In the beginning of the film, Edwards has high hopes to head the first expedition to make it across the U.S., but while he has ambition and funding, he has grown up sheltered and knows little of the wilderness he seeks to cross. To aid in his journey, he hires the services of a supposedly knowledgeable wilderness-man and tracker, Hunt, who, once they get underway, turns out to be less than advertised. They are aided by a crew of varied, rugged and grizzled frontiersmen, including the group's version of
Sacagawea Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884).e., present-day Gibbons Pass A week later, on July 13, Sacagawea advised Clark to cross into the Yellowstone River basin at what is now known a ...
, a young Indian woman by the name Shaquinna, who is integral in helping them find their way across the dangerous and unknown terrain ahead, as well as eventually becoming Edwards' love interest. Along the way, the group goes through various mishaps and ordeals such as having to deal with quirky, indigenous Indian tribes and vicious animals, a
Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
named Hidalgo, as well as running out of food and romantic snafus, as Hunt's ineptness often causes more problems than it solves. Along the way, Edwards and Hunt's shared journey helps Edwards shed his aristocratic, snooty ways and he learns camaraderie and honor, as well as a more humble view of a world he thought he understood. Hunt finds true friendship in Edwards and a sense of self-confidence he had not known before. After many hardships and setbacks, they eventually make it to the Pacific coast just minutes before Lewis and Clark's expedition; however, once the celebration is over, they find that they do not necessarily want to go back to their old lives and collectively decide to continue their adventure, leading Edwards and Hunt's expedition to further explore the great uncharted world.


Cast


Production


Development

The script was written under the title ''Edwards & Hunt''. Because the screenwriters shared the same agent, Rob Carlson, as
Steve Oedekerk Steven Brent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac (particular ...
, known at the time for his success writing for
Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy t ...
, Oedekerk was able to help the script circulate. It became a hot script and was ultimately purchased by Turner Pictures. Chris Farley was the first actor to be cast. The writers originally wanted to offer the role of Leslie Edwards to
Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...
; at that point, he was a star only in the United Kingdom, so Turner executives wished for a more recognizable actor. The role was turned down by
Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
and
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...
before Matthew Perry accepted the part.


Filming

The film had a budget of (equivalent to about $ million in ). Feeling that the humor of the story was in putting the goofball protagonists against a historical backdrop, the filmmakers opted for realism in the art design. Principal photography began in the summer of 1996. Four weeks were spent shooting in the Big Bear region of Northern California. A town representing St. Louis circa 1804 was constructed at Reading Island park (not really an island) on the Sacramento River, east of
Cottonwood, California Cottonwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Shasta County, California, United States. Its population is 6,268 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,316 from the 2010 census. Cottonwood was a stagecoach town where a settlement was established in ...
, and a Native American village set was built upriver. Heat posed a major challenge for the summer shoot, with actors wearing furs in temperatures of over one hundred degrees. For the sequences of the boat on the River, the 2nd unit crew traveled to West Central
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
to film scenic areas on the Missouri River, right along the
Helena National Forest Helena National Forest is located in west-central Montana, in the United States. Covering , the forest is broken into several separate sections. The eastern regions are dominated by the Big Belt Mountains, and are the location of the Gates of th ...
and
Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...
. Additional scenes were shot on locations in
Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka–Arcata– Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statist ...
. Filming was completed in the fall of 1996, with a 1997 release target. However, the film was delayed a full year due to the pending merger between
Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...
and
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
. Then Chris Farley passed away on December 18 1997 of a drug overdose. By the time the film was released in May 1998, Chris Farley had been dead nearly six months.


Post-production

Writer Tom Wolfe (not the author of the same name) stated that the script was intended to be more of an ensemble piece than the
buddy comedy A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...
the studio saw it as. Farley's assistant, Ted Dondanville, stated that in post-production, cuts were made around the star and targeted peripheral characters. He felt that the lost material would have helped Farley's performance. "They cut the ensemble scenes first, Matthew Perry's second, and Chris's never." A scene featuring Edwards' sweetheart, played by
Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Posey made her film debu ...
, was cut, as was the film's original ending. The re-shot ending did not include Bokeem Woodbine, resulting in his character Jonah disappearing after the fight against the conquistadors.


Reception

Critical reception of ''Almost Heroes'' has been generally negative. The film has a 5% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, based on 39 reviews. The site's consensus states: "A sorry swan song for the talented Chris Farley, ''Almost Heroes'' is a directionless comedy that doesn't even come close to triumph." James Berardinelli of ''ReelViews'' gave the film one out of four stars and wrote: "This is a dreadful motion picture - a lowbrow example of period piece comedy with terrible production values and an exceptionally poor laughs-to-jokes ratio. There's a kind of desperation in the movie's approach to humor that reveals the film makers' uncertainty about how entertaining the material is; the manic style betrays itself as a last-ditch attempt to hide the flaws of a failed script." Owen Gleiberman of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' wrote: "''Almost Heroes'' ..gives off the discomforting reek of desperation. ... How could director Christopher Guest ..have reduced himself to staging gags such as Farley's slap-fest with hostile Injuns, Eugene Levy (as a nasty pirate) speaking in a zany French accent, or Farley stealing an egg from an eagle's nest, punching out the bird, and then falling to the ground with an epic thud? ''Almost Heroes'' goes thud too. Despite his compulsion to trash everything in his midst, including himself, Chris Farley deserved better." John R. McEwen of ''Film Quips Online'' wrote: "It's clear, his death notwithstanding, that Farley is the funniest thing about this... As expected, there is little here but sight gags and low humor, but if you're in the mood (and I must have been), it has its laugh-out-loud moments. ... Perry also has a few good bits, but he is obviously a distant second banana. Additional appearances by people like Eugene Levy and Kevin Dunn, and others, add to the hilarity, although many of the jokes fall flat...I doubt if anyone ever expected Chris Farley to win an Academy Award. But it is a fitting tribute to him that his last outing, while not a great work of American cinema, can provide a good dose of chuckles, and more than a few belly laughs." One of the film's producers, Denise Di Novi, reflected on the failure of the end product:


See also

*


References


External links

* * {{Christopher Guest 1990s adventure comedy films 1990s English-language films 1998 comedy films 1998 films American adventure comedy films Films directed by Christopher Guest Films produced by Denise Di Novi Films set in 1804 Warner Bros. films 1990s American films