Confessions of a Superhero

I loved this film and it has "stayed with me" since I first saw it in 2007. If anything, it's even more poignant in light of how its centerpiece character met his ultimate fate. I admire how the filmmakers didn't patronize or make fun of their subjects. Christopher Lloyd Dennis, a genuine oddball, is portrayed in a straight-forward, non-judgmental way, and is actually quite likeable. The film's ancillary characters, most especially the Texas Batman impersonator, certainly less-so. At one point, he even seemingly confesses to have committed a murder. All in all, a well-crafted film and a fairly unfiltered window into an otherwise unknown world.

So Wonder Woman/ Jennifer Wenger actually described this entire documentary in a few sentences when she described Hollywood Superman/ Christopher Dennis.

When I watched this film for the first time ten years ago during 2011 I had no idea that I was going to meet Christopher Dennis months later and speak with him bimonthly for years. By that time, he had divorced his wife Bonnie, who he was shown marrying in this film. He said only positive things about her, but he seemed to have only a passing knowledge about her. When I asked him, "she is a psychologist, right?" he replied, "no, she is a psychiatrist." Incorrect. His ignorance about someone with whom he was supposedly close is representative of this entire film. The "actors" who were featured in it were mostly selfish and myopic, and they had great difficulty in having sustained, healthy relationships with people and reality in general as a result. Fascinating.

Also, for me, it has great sentimental value. It shows Los Angeles before its slow, excruciating death during the last several years-- a place of many opportunities for people who could rein in their insanities, however temporarily.

Jennifer Wenger, who I believe is the best actor by far in the film and is part of what makes it watchable, accomplished it. She married a B list actor, and she made a name for herself in underground movies. Her "costars" in this film didn't fare nearly as well. Christopher Dennis has died from a meth addiction, Batman/ Maxwell Allen was banned from "performing" on Hollywood Boulevard and was forced to move onto Las Vegas, and I saw Hulk/ Joe McQueen on the boulevard as recently as 2019.

Sad. But you can't look away. You can't.

I rented this doc after reading about it on the blog of a former Hollywood Blvd "character" (you can catch a glimpse of her as "Fiona," the princess from "Shrek," early in the film). This woman made life on the strip sound bizarre, fun, surreal, heartbreaking, beautiful, life-changing, dramatic...and this film backed up her claims. Most of us, as tourists, don't give a second thought to the costumed characters who pose for photos in the hope of getting tips, but once you see this film, that will change.

As the other reviews indicate, the main thrust of the story here centres around four of the most popular characters that haunt the Mann: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Hulk. Among the many things I wasn't expecting was how well these four performers seem to know each other; I guess I hadn't thought about how much bonding goes on when you're braving the crowds of tourists for several hours a day. It's interesting to see the filmmaker allow each performer to opine about the others, in addition to providing their own backstory and their reasons for how and why they ended up in a superhero costume.

The film is funny, touching, sad and eye-opening. I can't think of any demographic who wouldn't find these people and their lives - so different from what most of us know! - interesting to watch. The fact that the viewer gets emotionally invested in these characters' stories is a testament not only to the film but to the people themselves.

There are also some genuine surprises about the off-the-street lives of the four players, ranging from Superman's story about his movie star mom to the sordid pasts (violence, drug use, marital trouble, homelessness and more) they're all trying to escape. It's equal parts tragic and hopeful.

If you enjoyed this one, the same blog source who alerted me to its existence also recommended two others: "The Reinactors" (dir. David Markey), and "The Ambassadors Of Hollywood" (dir. Archie Gips & Matthew Hunt). Both apparently feature more of the Superman we met in "Confessions..." and also revisit the others, as well as introducing us to a few (like Jack Sparrow, Chewbacca and Elmo) of whom we only caught a glimpse this time around. I'm keeping an eye out for both documentaries, as "Confessions..." was decidedly compelling enough to make me want to know more about the folks behind the masks. See it for yourself and I suspect you'll agree.

Wouldn't go out of my way to find this one...okay for late-night viewing if you channel-surf to it.

I think Morgan Spurlock dresses up in the Superman suit in the telephone booth to introduce the film, but that also falls a bit flat.

The characters and their stories just aren't that exceptional or interesting. The small-town history of the Wonder Woman character is a perfect example. Whether Christopher Dennis is really Sandy Dennis's son is somewhat interesting, but left unresolved.

Also interesting is that Christopher Dennis certainly doesn't have the Superman physique. Margot Kidder mentions this in a roundabout way. He should wear a padded-suit-image a 98lb weakling instead!

His obsession with Superman reminded me of another film called Cinemania (2002 Angela Christlieb) about NY city film obsessives.

I wanted to know why this had such high praise and after watching it online just now I am still wondering that. Some of the positive include a unique subject matter, sort of interesting profiles, and a good budget that showed with the quality of production.

I still couldn't help but feel like this might have been better served as a short film, as opposed to it's feature length.

The lives our "superheroes" live are sad, and while some aspects are interesting I didn't find them endearing or terribly entertaining. They were also not particularly inspiring, like the director might have intended them to be. I found myself looking at the clock waiting for it to end.

While I appreciate the effort I think this runs flat and would have enjoyed a more complex theme attached to the story.

If you enjoy documentaries and want something different keep looking. Between Amazon, Snagfilms, Hulu.com, and Netflix you will be able to find much better documentaries that profile the stranger side of life. Would have been much better served as a short film.

6 out of 10