Peter, Lee's agent, calls to tell him a group wants to give him a lifetime achievement award for his acting work in Westerns, but no job offers.

Lee spends his days reliving old glories and smoking marijuana with his former-co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy, but the surprise cancer diagnosis brings his priorities into sharp focus.

Besides trying to tell Jeremy, he also contacts his ex-wife Val and attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Lucy.

Also inviting Lucy to the award ceremony on Sunday, which she cannot attend, instead Lee arranges to take her to lunch on Tuesday.

On April 20, 2016, it was reported that Sam Elliott would star in The Hero, directed and co-written by Brett Haley.

Other cast members included Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman, and Elliott's wife Katharine Ross.

The site's critical consensus reads, "The Hero rests on Sam Elliott's understated performance, which proves more than capable of carrying the film through the less inspired moments of its somewhat clichéd story.

"[9] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 61 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".