Special

Honestly, this movie is in no way funny - although it could have been, and although it sometimes really made the impression that it was somehow intended to be funny. But it was just tragic. And what was really annoying, was the soundtrack, which was so entirely depressing and really got me close to turn off the movie at times, because it added such a thoroughly negative atmosphere. I couldn't help thinking "if anyone laughs at this, they have a serious empathy problem". Plus i believe, because of the way the story was told and the emotional bias thats created, this movie really drowned somehow. And it surely could have been, fore-mentioned negatives put aside, a pretty good one.

at first when the film started i thought it was going to be a long drawn out cheap indie film but i loved it, this film had the same feel to it as darko did but with this film i was not left feeling confused and bewildered, the acting in this film is the same class of such classics like darko and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind that you don't realise that there is no big names in this film but you are sure that they will be in big films to come. so if independent movies are your thing this film is a must see. P.S there is a lot of super hero films coming out at the moment(spiderman 3 fantastic 4.2) but non of them will make you think like this film does

"Special" as a movie wasn't very. A meter maid named Les (Michael Rappaport) opted into a program to test an experimental drug from the Exiler Research Group called Special. Les believed it gave him super powers when it really was him having an adverse reaction and imagining things. From that point on he was either trying to fight crime or convince others that he had superpowers, and both were a bit cringeworthy and pathetic. The villains (because every superhero needs a villain) were two brothers who were the founders of Exiler. They wanted to stop Les from parading around with their logo on his back while he envisioned them trying to stop him for a more nefarious reason.

It wasn't all bad. Les was a genuinely likeable character. He was a regular guy with regular friends and a desire just to be a little more than he was. Michael Rappaport didn't do a bad job, and I think the movie concept was novel. However, his was like an unfunny version of "Kick-Ass" or "Super." It was like "Kick-Ass" meets "Everything Must Go" with Will Ferrell. It wasn't very empowering or uplifting, it just was.

Free on Amazon Prime.

Best movie at the Austin Film Festival. One of the best movies of the year. Funny, emotional, and one of the few recent movies that is generally unpredictable.

Michael Rapaport is brilliant. He has a subtlety about him that I did not expect from his TV show, "The War at Home." He has scenes of great physical comedy, and emotional scenes that nearly brought a tear to my eye.

I don't want to give away anything about the story. The log-line gives all the information for you to know what the movie is about. Seek this movie out. Take your friends with you.

It is too easy for us to just exist throughout our lives. It is up to us as individuals to make ourselves truly Special.

The film itself has a great premise, the actors believable, in fact everything about it is great with the sole exception of the camera operator, who clearly has some sort of inner ear malfunction. I'm noticing this more & more, and it must be a cost saving method to shoot films with handheld cameras, but at least let someone with a semi steady hand hold them! Unfortunately this wobbling of the screen image has the effect of being on a boat in choppy waters. It makes me feel ill to watch what I want to see. I'm so annoyed that I had to turn this off after 15 minutes because of nausea.