User Reviews

Special is a very enjoyable movie that includes some of the best acting by Michael Rapaport and an extremely promising debut from first time directors Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore. The movie is shot on a low budget which negatively effects the look of the film as well as the music and titling. The story and acting however rise above this and create a very entertaining and ultimately gratifying movie.

Rapaport's role as a delusional meter maid who thinks he becomes a superhero is one that the audience can laugh at, yet identify with. The film does a great job of balancing the humor with drama and Rapaport plays out his character very well. I was skeptical before I saw the film but any hesitations I had were gone by the end of the first act.

Writer and directors Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore did an incredibly good job with the script. The movie seemed to remain alive throughout the duration of the film with very few slow points. Again, the blend of humor and drama was amazing and Hal & Jeremy showed capability beyond most seasoned Hollywood filmmakers.

I just saw this film at the Hollywood pacific, the debut feature of a pair of recent USC grads, and I was blown away. The basic premise could have been taken in so many silly and campy directions, but instead they choose to play it in a way that is hilarious and yet almost sad, which gives us this wonderful melancholy feel. The doctor is hilarious, right from the first genius telepathy scene. I was surprised how much I was laughing and then suddenly cringing and then saddened within the span of a few seconds, it was an amazing and sophisticated directing job to get me to that place and not ever pull me out of it.

In the end though, the thing that really makes the film is Michael Rappaport. My god, he plays what could have been campy lines (not to say they are badly written, in fact the writing is absolutely stellar, its just that this was a difficult role to "pull off) with the utmost delicacy and sincerity, and I for one became totally entombed in his character purely on his charisma and the everyman melancholic charm he possesses in spades and has made use of ever since I saw him for the first time in "Beautiful Girls". Really, I want him to win awards for his difficult and touching part in this film.

The idea of 'drug reaction causes man to think he has superpowers' definitely has potential, but this film didn't fulfill it. Aside from bad acting by everyone but Michael Rapaport (and who knows how he would have done if he'd been forced off his one note), there was questionable characterization (is the Simpson's Comic Book Guy really a believable model for a store proprietor?) and unbelievable situations (none of his friends called 911? Not even when he was injured, obviously delusion and locked in a store bathroom overnight? No police officer recognized him in all the time he wandered around in that singular getup?). Further the 'rich, evil corporation owner' plot is due for a rest.

Switching the viewer in and out of Rapaport's character's point-of-view was an effective way to heighten tension, though: even with our knowledge of 'what was really happening' it was difficult not to view things from Les's perspective.

It is indeed may not be a film for everyone, and does require a certain acquired taste when it comes to enjoying even small budget flicks. So don't go in expecting a blockbuster. In fact, I think even as far as low budgets go this one might be in its own category. i think the crew may actually had to pay to be in it.. Luckily that is where the list of negatives end, because as far as the acting and the plot are concerned, they're top notch.

OK, so Michael Rappaport is not considered an "A" list actor ,but in this he definitely delivers one of his best performances to date. i thought this was one of the funniest movies i rented without knowing anything about it prior. (I don't think they actually spent a dime on advertising since i ve never heard of it before. ) I 'd hate to put spoilers in the review so i wont, because if you like low budget flicks, you really need to see it for yourself! Again, as long as you don't mind low tech sci fi! I think the only CGI might be during the opening credits...

ps: I did give it a 9 for the acting and the originality.

Special is a well-made movie. The visual style and performances work excellently to build characters and situations that we care about. Unfortunately, the filmmakers' overeagerness to create drama and catharsis undermine the premise of the film and strain suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point. Michael Rappaport's mild- mannered schlub Les joins a clinical trial for an antidepressant. Shortly after beginning his dosage, he gains super powers. Or does he? Unfortunately, the film doesn't let the ambiguity linger: the first time he shows off his powers to his doctor, we see from an objective perspective that they're all in his head. The doctor instructs him to stop the dosage, while Les hears him "telepathically" encourage him to continue and enhance his powers. He dons a costume and sets out to fight crime, tackling random people and drawing attention from the police. While running from cops, he gets picked up by the two wealthy young sponsors of the drug, who tell him to stop taking it, since his adverse reaction could ruin their chances of marketing their product. And here is where the movie ceases to play by its own rules. The main source of dramatic tension is the contrast between Les' delusions of being super powered, and everyone else's recognition of his actual normalcy. A strong hook with a lot of potential. However, this dynamic depends on other people's reactions to Les being recognizable as the kind of thing a normal, sane person would do. But this is not the case. Firstly the villainous sponsors. After thousands of successful cases, one subject with side effects will destroy the marketability the drug? Rather than simply putting a warning label "0.01 % of users may experience hallucinations, paranoia," or bribing some bureaucrat, they seem to think the best way to deal with the Les problem is by bribing him, the guy they think is crazy, even after he stabs Jonas in the ear with a chopstick. They later try to beat him to death and run him over, as a plan B. Wholly unbelievable. After escaping his would be murderers, Les runs to his local convenience store and throws himself, bleeding and exhausted, at the mercy of the checkout clerk, whom he once tried to ask out. It turns out she has a severe stutter, which is why she didn't respond to him before. How could a woman with a prohibitive speech impediment hold a job where she has to talk to customers all the time? Then, telling her he "finished the bottle of pills," Les convinces her to let him stay the night in the store bathroom. Who in their right mind would let someone with severe head wounds and a possibly lethal drug overdose go to sleep, instead of going to the hospital? I understand why the filmmakers put these scenes in: so Les can overcome adversaries and engage in a sweet character moment. But they are simply too absurd to accept, and pulled me out of the story completely. The film is still worth watching, but could have been so much better if it simply committed to its premise and avoided the illogical melodrama.

Special is a film that remembers what super-heroes used to mean to people and isn't ashamed of it. Before they became big budget spectacles that make hundreds of millions of dollars, before they became sardonic and self-loathing vehicles for societal and psychological deconstruction, super-heroes were power fantasies for the young, the young at heart and for people who felt they were powerless in their own lives. They were about not liking or being satisfied with who you are and yearning to be something amazing. That kind of needful desire can be silly, sad and even inspiring. Special is that sort of film.

Les (Michael Rapaport) is a lonely, awkward, quietly desperate meter maid whose only real friends are a couple of stoners (Josh Peck and Robert Baker) who own the local comic book store. Les decides to take part in a clinical trial, testing a new drug to ease crippling feelings of self-doubt. What the pills give Les are psychotic delusions that he has super-powers. So, he does what any socially awkward, grown up comic book fan would do to quench his thirst for validation…he quits his job, cobbles together a silver costume and starts patrolling the city as its newest protector.

In real life, however, it's not that easy to find muggers or jewel thieves to heroically thrash, so Les' increasingly addled brain finds substitute targets. There also aren't any super-villains in the real world, though drug company executives afraid that Les' adverse reaction to their pills will ruin their chance to be rich manage to play the part in both Les' fantasies and his actual life. But as he becomes more deranged and more dangerous to himself and others, he must find a way to give up his hallucinations of heroism and find something truly heroic in ordinary, unexceptional Les.

Special manages to take the idea of a crazy guy who thinks he's a super-hero and embraces every aspect of that concept. It's absurd, disturbing, touching and even ennobling. There's a humor to be had in someone who thinks he can run through walls and make things disappear with by waving his hands. There's something frightening about a person who acts out because he sees and hears things that aren't there. There's something poignant about a man who wants to hold on to his insanity because as terrible as it is, he still thinks it's better than his unhappy reality. And there's something uplifting about a timid and unsure man finding the strength he's always looked for by finally looking inside himself.

Michael Rapaport gives a very fine performance in this movie. He's playing a character who lacks social skills in more ways than are simply convenient for the story. Les doesn't understand himself or how to interact with other people which Rapaport makes first pathetic and charming and then threatening when Les' personal inadequacies are fueled by pill-spawned psychosis. Josh Peck and Robert Baker are also pretty good in small roles as Les' stoner friends. Baker's character is roughly equal in age to Les but is a bit more emotionally capable and able to put some ironic distance between himself and his juvenile preoccupations. Peck's character is younger and gets caught up in the ridiculous thrill of super-heroing before crashing against the unsettling fact that the super-hero is a dangerous lunatic.

Writer/directors Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore deserve a good bit of credit for their work as well. Special is a very low budget film and it looks it, but Haberman and Passmore manage to come up with quite a few ways to visually mine the comedy and the tragedy out their story. They cleverly blend Les' madness and his sanity in ways that illustrate the struggle going on inside his mind. This film also has dialog that is realistically funny and dramatic, never straying into pretension or melodrama. I also salute their ambition as filmmakers and their wisdom to not get carried away by it. I've seen a lot of 90 minute or 2 hour indy flicks that should have never been more than 15 minute film festival entries. Special is 81 minutes long and it's got enough plot, theme and characterization to fill that up. And while there are opportunities and had to be temptations to stretch the story out and try and make it a bigger deal than what it should be, Halberman and Passmore didn't go down that road.

Special is one of those little movies that more people should see because a lot of them would enjoy it. If you spot this DVD on the shelf amidst the dreck, dregs and stuff you've already seen, give it a try.

The idea of someone having an adverse reaction to a drug and plotting a movie around that has not been done, at least not very often before. The plot was good, with several holes, but over all, it can be forgiven. The same can be said for the characters, Even the cliché brother duo 'villains' played their roles well enough that the cliché can be forgiven.

What can't be forgiven, is the most obvious thing I noticed in this film. I have read reviews by other people who mention a movie having bad, or shaky filming, but most of the time I never notice. But this movie, the filming is so shaky its ridiculous. I felt like I was watching a high school made movie from that alone, not even enough credit for a college movie.

I will try to avoid bashing this movie, because for the most part I didn't mind it. It was a decent time passer, but a few more things I have to mention are the music, and the ending, the 'comedy', and the subjective viewing of the movie.

The movie has you see both sides of the scenario at times, seeing how his friends see what happens and how he sees it. But at times, it makes it confusing if not impossible to follow what is happening. **Spoiler** For example, the scene in the park where the brother is chasing him, he teleports behind him and punches him in the face. Honestly there is no explanation given for this or a few other things that happen, like him getting from his friends car to the top of a building in a split second. It was as if the people making this movie didn't know if they actually WANTED him to have powers or for it to be in his head.

This movie is in no way shape or form a comedy. From the very bleak outlook of every situation and the dark and serious tones of most every scene, to the extremely poor choice of music even for a sad movie, this movie was nothing but depressing. Not a tragedy, i can't give it that much credit, just depressing to watch and listen to.

And my last qualm on my mind is the ending. If you are going to make a movie like this, you need to have a good ending, with a lesson or a reason, or something that makes sense to the madness. You do NOT have the main character say what he says, then completely ruin what he just said, then just end it with no real closure in the slightest.. I would have rated it lower, but I really didn't hate it. It was a decent movie if you are looking for something a little different.

I saw this movie a few days ago at the new Toronto After Dark Film Festival. First off, this movie was a little more serious than I thought it was going to be after seeing the trailer. Fear not, it has plenty of funny moments though! I was impressed by the fact it was, in a way, a movie where the underdog (such as a kid bullied by the more popular kids) comes back to win in the end without being one of the typical Hollywood 'feel-good' or 'after-school special' movies. At least that was from my point of view.

Rapaport was perfect in this movie. I cannot imagine anyone else playing Les. From his portrayal of being a simple guy with a simple life, to his slide downhill into mental illness, he played the role to a T. He seemed to give himself completely to the character, but was never over the top. He made the character real.

Go see this movie when it comes out. You won't be disappointed.

Craftsmanship counts for a lot, especially when it comes to low budget indies, and SPECIAL boasts (among other things) some solid craftsmanship. It also boasts a solid performance by Michael Rapaport (his best, that I've seen); the focus on his character here is acute and he is more than up to the challenge: we BELIEVE his character (and believe IN him) because Rapaport sells himself so well on screen. To come across a movie of this nature (one that deals head-on with mental illness) is rare enough, but to come across a movie that draws you in and makes you BELIEVE is rarer still. Although noted Acting Award-winning thespian Lincoln Osiris (TROPIC THUNDER) has admonished fellow actors not to go "full retard" (the way Woody Harrelson did in DEFENDOR), SPECIAL is an exception to the rule in that it proves that delving into the darkest recesses of the mind CAN be done and done well.

The acting was tolerable...but who could really care about the acting. The movie was boring, the story line was idiotic, I don't have enough time to write how much my wife and I hated this movie. At this very moment I can't even say why I sat through the whole thing...bad bad boring movie.

One last comment...a comedy...are you serious??!?!?! This was a depressing story about a guy who loses everything because he was prescribed a medication that had really bad side effects. That in no way shape or form is a comedy...a tragedy yes...but a comedy...I think not. Did I say this was a bad movie yet....?