"Ten-Inch Hero"--Finding an A+ Meaning in a B- Movie

About a year ago, I watched the movie Ten-Inch Hero for the first time. The film, directed by David McKay and released in 2007, is about a young woman named Piper who, as a teenager, gave up her child for adoption. Now, as a woman in her mid-twenties, she seeks to find her daughter, and gets hired at a sandwich shop (hence the name Ten-Inch Hero) in California while looking for her daughter. At the shop she meets quite the group of interesting people: Jen, another young woman desperately seeking love; Trucker, an aged hippie who longs to find someone with his worldview; Priestly, a punk rule breaker who desires to break social norms; and Tish, a young woman who spends more time with her "dates" than at work. Every one of these characters is opinionated, strong-willed, and reliant upon themselves. However, as they come to find, they all need something more: love.

Ten-Inch Hero is certainly not the best film I have ever seen. An independent film that was shot over the course of only three weeks, it had poor production quality and wasn't even released in theaters in the United States. However, to this day, the film has gotten consistently decent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and IMdB, averaging between 80 and 90 percent. Why? The story and characters. 

Ten-Inch Hero's story is surprisingly relatable. It is about a handful of people trying to find love and obtain closure while battling demons from their past. Piper was a very young mother who had to give up her child, and has had to live with the regret and guilt of never having met her daughter. While not every viewer has had the same experiences as Piper has had, this film makes Piper a very relatable character. Everyone has experienced some sort of guilt, regardless of its origins, and can find solace in other who have experienced the same. And then take Priestly. He does his best to hide behind his punk rocker facade to hide the fact that he is actually a sensitive, kind person. Many viewers can relate to this on some level. 

Overall, Ten-Inch Hero's story is about finding love and accepting yourself. Piper accepts that she had to give up her child and isn't going to get her back. Priestly accepts that he actually wants to reveal his feelings, and tries to become a more loving person. Tish gives up her "dating" lifestyle and decides to become monogamous with someone that she deeply cares for. While Ten-Inch Hero isn't exactly the most incredible movie ever, it really does have a very relatable story.  

Rating: A-