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.

"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.

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What makes us special? Not much, really, especially in the world created in this movie. Michael Rapaport plays Les, a down-on-his luck meter maid (what's the male equivalent of a male maid? A meter dude?) stuck in a dead end life. He's single, lonely, eating gross microwave food and reading a lot of comic books. (That last part got a serious, sideways and long-suffering look from Kathleen.) What guy can't relate? The world Les lives in, and the real world, is bleak. That's why he, and many of us, seek escape in movies and comic books that allow us take part in the hero's journey vicariously. Les is lonely and sadder than most, so he signs up for a clinical trial to test a drug he thinks will give him superpowers. When he starts to manifest powers, he uses them to try and fight crime. But it's highly likely the powers are manifesting only in his mind as the drugs may be forcing a psychotic break.

The movie pits him against a nasty pharmaceutical company and his own demons. What we learn along the way is that the world doesn't need superheroes, we just need people willing to act like superheroes. And as Les indicates early on, that means always getting back up, no matter what bad guys throw at you, or what life throws at you. From asteroids and laser beams to dead end jobs and emotional minefields associated with dating, true bravery is always just getting back up. And the hero's journey — though often spiffed up for cultural consumption — is really just continuing to trudge forward when every muscle fiber in your body screams to give up.

A couple of things of note. First, clinical trials are not skeezy and there are many oversights and controls to prevent just such abuse. It makes for a fun movie, but outside of the big screen, they are closely monitored. Second, Alexandra Holden as Maggie, an intersecting love interest who is marginally differently-abled, was tremendous.

I greatly enjoyed this movie, and Rapaport, but I may have been conditioned to like it -- I cheerfully admit to reading way to many comics (like Elephantmen and The Boys).

-- www.cowboyandvampire.com --

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

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.