Ten Inch Hero is an independent romantic comedy film completed in 2007. The film was directed by David Mackay and written by Betsy Morris. The Ten Inch Hero of the title refers to a large submarine sandwich.
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The story revolves around the young student Piper, who moves to Santa Cruz to find her daughter, who she gave up for adoption 8 years ago to a woman who said her husband was named Noah and that she named the baby girl Julia. Piper gets a job at local sandwich shop and meets the other employees; Jen, a shy but kind girl who has an email romance with a stranger known as Fuzzy22, but is too afraid to meet him in person. Tish is the outspoken one who has a new man every night and doesn't bother falling in love because she thinks it's too risky. Priestly is the free-spirited punk of the gang who uses humor to hide his own feelings and emotions. The shop is owned by Trucker, a surfer child of the '60s who's in love with Zo, the mysterious woman and owner from the shop across the street.
On the first day, Piper sees 8 year-old Julia with her father Noah at the beach. The three meet and Piper introduces herself as Anna in case Noah would remember her less common name from the adoption process. She discovers that Julia is an avid artist, just like Piper. When they meet again at the library, Julia asks Piper to become her drawing tutor. While Piper spends time with Julia and Noah, she can't help but wonder what happened to the adoptive mother. Meanwhile, Tish has met Tad, with whom she starts an affair, until she discovers Tad planned a threesome with her and his best friend Brad. Tish refuses and is pushed against the night drawer by Tad, and runs away. Fuzzy22 has asked Jen to meet him in person, to which she ultimately agrees, and Tish and Piper opt to come with her in case Fuzzy22 isn't who he says he is. Before the trip, Noah asks Piper out on a date, to which she agrees, although she says she has some things to tell him. They talk about Noah's wife, who lives on the east coast and since she suffered from post-partum depression and severely abused Julia, she is not allowed to have contact with Julia until her 18th birthday. It's then that Piper finds out that Julia is not adopted, and that Noah and his ex-wife are Julia's birth-parents. Realizing this Julia couldn't possibly be the daughter she gave up, she runs away upset, leaving Noah confused behind.
The next day, Piper, Tish and Jen go on the trip to meet up with Fuzzy22, but after they finally arrive at the meeting point and Jen sees how handsome Fuzzy22 is, she runs away and confesses to Piper and Tish that someone like Fuzzy22 could never like someone like her, and that they don't know what it feels like to always be ignored because she's not pretty enough. Although the two friends try to convince Jen to go back and meet with him, she won't cave, so they drive back to Santa Cruz. Tish is bothered by Tad, and after she accuses him of being gay and that's the only reason he wanted her in bed with him and Brad, he slaps her. Priestly comes to Tish's defense and so does Trucker, who is revealed to be able to fight like a professional. He then admits he was never a surfchild who went to Woodstock, but actually went to war, where he learned his fighting skills and shows Piper, Jen, Tish, and Priestly his high school yearbook, showing he was captain of the football team and class president. When he's talking with Tish, he asks her to start dating nice guys, but Tish replies, giving Priestly a quick glance, that good guys don't ask girls like her out. Jen, who was leafing through Trucker's yearbook, excitedly calls everyone's attention to a photo of Zo. Trucker realizes he doesn't have to hide his past from Zo because she already knows who he really is, He finally works up the courage to ask her out, to which she happily agrees.
Piper and Noah have another talk, and he forgives her for lying and asks her if she still wants to be a part of the family. At the shop, a homeless man comes in and tells Jen that he thinks she's really pretty, and that she's exactly who he had hoped she'd be. He takes off the wig and is revealed to be Fuzzy22, who was convinced by Priestly to come to the shop. He introduces himself to Jen and they happily hug. Priestly reveals that when Jen forgot to log off the computer one night, he talked to Fuzzy22 and told him where Jen is so they can finally meet. Priestly then comes to the shop the next day and is almost unrecognizable dressed in Banana Republic, his goth clothes, piercings, and hair nowhere in sight, and finally asks Tish out. After giving hints throughout the movie that he's interested in her, she accepts when he finally reveals that his first name is Boaz. The movie ends with all the new couples at the beach for Zo and Trucker's commitment ceremony to each other.
Doe, Harris, Harnois and Matt Barr have all appeared on One Tree Hill, and the writer of the soundtrack, Bethany Joy Galeotti, has starred in the program.
Ten Inch Hero was shot in three weeks. Although the film is set in Santa Cruz, much of it was shot in southern California, including a sandwich shop in San Pedro and a private beach.
Ten Inch Hero explores the themes of honesty—both to others and to yourself—and the flaw of judging by appearances. Everyone in this film is hiding something: from Jen hiding behind her computer, to Trucker covering up a painful past, and even Priestly, uncomfortable in his own skin. Ten Inch Hero takes the old childhood lesson of "Don't judge a book by its cover" one step further to: "Don't let others tell you what your book's cover should look like." Each of the friends learns that you can't be happy until you're willing to risk being yourself.
Ten Inch Hero was shown in a number of film festivals, including the Newport Beach Film Festival as well as the Phoenix Film Festival and the 2008 Santa Cruz Film Festival.[1][2] The film won an award for Best Soundtrack at the Santa Cruz Film Festival.
Ten Inch Hero was shown September 2008 in London at the Odeon Cinema in Kingston Upon Thames in a screening fans helped to organise.[3][4]
Ten Inch Hero did not get a cinematic release in the US and was instead released direct to video. It was released February 10, 2009 in the United States exclusively by Blockbuster Video, and released May 6, 2009 on DVD in Australia.
The soundtrack for Ten Inch Hero was written by Don Davis, best known for his work on The Matrix. One Tree Hill actress and musician Bethany Joy Galeotti wrote three original songs for the soundtrack: "The Long Way", "Get Your Love", and the ballad "Something Familiar".
Other artists on the soundtrack include Joshua Radin, David Lichens, Feeder, Chris Holmes, The Chalets, Future Primitive, Sajama, and John Phillip Sousa.