''Hero Mode'', also known as ''Mayfield's Game'' in Australia and the United Kingdom, is a 2021 American independent comedy film directed by A.J. Tesler (in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

) and written by Jeff Carpenter. Produced by Marcy Carpenter, E.J. Kavounas, and Tesler, the film was released in American theaters on June 4, 2021, distributed by

Blue Fox Entertainment Blue Fox Entertainment is a global distribution and film sales company founded in 2015 by Todd Slater and James Huntsman. In the spring of 2017, Blue Fox merged with independent film distributor, Level 33 Entertainment, led by Andreas Olavarria. ...

. followed by

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on June 11, 2021. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Financially struggling indie video game business owner Kate asks her son Troy (Chris Carpenter) to develop a video game in time for an upcoming gaming convention in order to save the company. Troy is enthusiastic for the job. But the company's disgruntled coders are not, and in addition Rick, the CEO of a rival company looking to buy out the studio in order to gut it and fire everyone'

Cast

* Chris Carpenter as Troy Mayfield *

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

as Kate Mayfield *

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Samwise Gamgee in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), Mikey Walsh in ''The Goonies'' (1985), Daniel Ruettiger in ''Rudy'' (1993), Doug ...

as Jimmy Tisdale *

Indiana Massara Indiana Marie Ella Massara (born 23 August 2002), sometimes shortened to just Indiana, is an Australian singer, actress, model, and Internet personality. Massara has been named one of Kiss FM's youngest New Next Up Artists. Early life and educ ...

as Paige * Philip Solomon as Nick *

Nelson Franklin Nelson Franklin is an American actor best known for his television roles in ''The Millers'', ''Traffic Light'', ''The Office'', ''New Girl'', ''Black-ish'', and ''Veep''. Life and career Franklin was born to father Howard Franklin, a screenwri ...

as Rick *

Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...

as Larua * Kimia Behpoornia as Marie *

Bobby Lee Robert Lee Jr. (born September 17, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. From 2001 to 2009, Lee was a cast member on ''MADtv'', and he co-starred in the ABC single-camera sitcom series ''Splitting Up Together'' alongside ...

as VP Goodson *

Creed Bratton Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider, February 8, 1943) is an American actor, singer and musician. A former member of the rock band the Grass Roots, he is best known for playing a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom ''T ...

as James *

Jim O'Heir Jim O'Heir (born February 4, 1962) is an American actor and comedian, perhaps best known for portraying Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. O'Heir first became active in Chicago theater and improv during the late 1980s and ...

as James *

Monte Markham Monte Markham (born June 21, 1935) is an American actor. He has appeared in films, television series and on Broadway. Early life Markham was born in Manatee County, Florida, the son of Millie Content (née Willbur) and Jesse Edward Markham Sr., ...

as Lyndon *

Bret Harrison Bret Michael Harrison (born April 6, 1982) is an American actor and musician known predominantly for his work on comedy television series such as ''Grounded for Life'', '' The Loop'', ''Reaper'', and '' Breaking In''. Early life Harrison was bo ...

as George *

Al Madrigal Alessandro Liborio Madrigal (born July 4, 1971)"'W ...

as Larry *

Erik Griffin Erik Griffin is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor. He played Montez Walker on Comedy Central's ''Workaholics''. He has had acting roles in ''Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates'', ''I'm Dying Up Here'', and ''Blunt Talk.'' Early l ...

as Mr. Diehl * Sonja Read ( OMGitsfirefoxx) as Announcer * Wood Hawker (BeatEmUps) as himself * Matthew Patrick (

MatPat Matthew Robert Patrick (born November 15, 1986), known online as MatPat, is an American YouTuber and internet personality. He is the creator of The Game Theorists, The Film Theorists, and The Food Theorists YouTube channels, each analyzing vari ...

) as himself * Scott Wozniak (

Scott The Woz ''Scott The Woz'' (stylized in start case) is a gaming comedy review web series created by American YouTuber Scott Daniel Wozniak. The series, starring Wozniak, covers topics related to video games and gaming history. Episodes are written and ...

) as himself

Production

While in production the film went under the title of ''Mayfield's Game''. Filming took place in Los Angeles.

Release

Before its release the film generated criticism for its perceived unrealistic portrayal of

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC a ...

. The film was released in American theaters on June 4, 2021, distributed by

. It was followed by

releases on June 11, 2021. It opened with $11,843, for a total domestic gross of $21,178.

Critical reception

Writing in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', critic Nick Schager described the film as a "lively saga about a young coding wizard who’s charged with saving his family’s gaming business

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

doesn’t break novel ground in any respect," but that "its good humor, spry pacing and likable performances should appeal to its pre-high-school target audience." Critic Richard Whittaker wrote in ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' that the film is "a sweet, vaguely moralizing, teen-and-tween-friendly light drama," and that it "is charming if undemanding, and feels at least a little authentic to its milieu." Film critic Roger Moore wrote that the film "isn’t interesting enough to stand on its own, despite manic efforts by Astin and an amusing line here and there." On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave the film a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 46 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Hero Mode
at

. Retrieved September 22, 2021.

References

External links

* * {{official website, https://www.heromodefilm.com/movies/11817 2021 films American comedy films Films about video games Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles 2021 comedy films 2021 directorial debut films 2021 independent films American independent films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films