An agreable and nostalgic story set during Franco's 1975 demise , dealing with a growing-up story , along with a wonderful friendship between an outsider little boy , his best friend and a covert Religion teacher (Tony Cantó) . Stars Ramón (Manuel Lozano) moves to Sevilla along with his father who works in ¨Galerias Preciados¨ mall and his loving mother (Maru Valdivieso) . When his family settles in Seville, and going to school , there the timid boy becomes victim to the attention of the school's most notorious crowd , suffering bullying from them . All these things collide in Ramón's disconcerting world . He was always an underdog , as Ramón dedicates himself to read comic books , novels and goes to the cinema and admires an imaginary, mythical Native Indian (Antonio Dechent) from Westerns and Raquel Welch's One Million Years B. C. too . Ramón lives by a strict mantra : Don't Fight , Don't Snitch and Don't Cry , but he dreams of changing his life someday . He gets his chance to be a fine boy when and he makes good friends and while falling in love for a schoolmate.
A nice coming-of-age story with some issues that mirror the political goings on in the days before and subsequent the death of dictator Franco by sending shockwaves throughout Spain , while cracks of changes , rebellion and independence start appearing here and there . A sensitive drama with a budding friendship and romantic elements , it results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with dramatic deeds regarding the Spanish Transition ; including enjoyable performances and adequate set design . Eres mi héroe (2003) with its fictitious Indian/Antonio Dechent counselling the kid , follows the style to ¨A Galope Tendido¨ (2000) the latter regarding a boy haunted by a cowboy/Sancho Gracia and ¨Tongue of Butterflies¨(1999) concerning a student/Manuel Lozano himself and his intimate teacher/Fernando Fernán Gómez . Director Antonio Cuadri , also writes the interesting script, filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . The flick can be defined as a realist drama , a romantic tale, a historic fresco and a socio-political fable , but finally resulting in a sensitive tale in which a little boy learns that one of the most fundamental and enduring things in life is true friendship. The main problem has to face , beyond not being able to avoid falling into the politic pamphlet is precisely derived from the coldness of its staging -at times- , being excessively maudlin and containing some slow-moving scenes . Because the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this sometimes joyful as well as sad flick , though also contains humorous and enjoyable moments a when the children are gathered and play and enjoy themselves and of course the stirring , moving ending . Anyway, it's is compensated with the great interpretations from Antonio Dechent , Tony Cantó and the little boy Manuel Lozano , a true boy prodigy , interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result . Antonio Cuadri is a great director of actors and the main players are complemented by a good cast of secondaries as Maru Valdivielso , Toni Cantó , Antonio Dechent , Juan Fernández , Martxelo Rubio and brief appearance by Carmen Ruiz , among others ; all of them forming a powerful human group of support cast and giving excellent acting .
Special mention for magnificent musical score by Carita Boronska who composes an evocative as well as catching musical score . Including a spotless pictorial cinematography by Alex Catalán and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space , being shot mostly in Sevilla , Andalucia . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Antonio Cuadri . It won some prizes and nominations , such as : Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival 2003 Winner Jury Award : Young Actor's Award ,Manuel Lozano and Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival 2003 Winner Best Director. Writer/director Antonio Cuadri was born in Huelva (Andalucia) location where he shot his main and big-budgeted film titled ¨The heart of the earth¨ with an international cast . Cuadri is a fine craftsman with some hits , such as ¨La Gran Vida¨ with Selma Hayek , Carmelo Gómez , this¨Eres Mi Heroe¨ and previously made a documentary titled ¨Riotinto (2004)¨. Nowadays , he only directs TV episodes (Cuentame, Manolito Gafotas , UCO , Todos Hombres Sois Iguales , Al Salir De Clase , among them). Eres mi héroe (2003) rating : 6.5/10 . Well worth watching . Better than average.
