Hero Wanted - Region 1 DVD

Gooding indelibly captures Liam’s bald desperation (his character’s short-lived glory and downward spiral echoes his own misguided film career). First-time director Brian Smrz is a former stunt coordinator, and the film’s punishing fight scenes deliver the down and dirty goods. Jean Smart is excellent as the comatose teller’s mother, while Tommy Flannigan, as a wildly Scottish thug, entertainingly feasts on the scenery. Ray Liotta, as a veteran cop investigating the escalating carnage, does his best with such B-movie groaners as, "One minute he’s a hero in the news, the next he’s inside a bottle with no exit." "Redemption," Liam states at one point, "Sometimes you have to go through hell to get it." It doesn’t get any more hellish than Boat Trip, Daddy Day Camp or those Hanes underwear commercials, but Gooding finally gets some with his best starring performance since Radio. --Donald Liebenson