The superhero genre is getting a workout of late.
You have your drunk heroes (“Hancock”), your tormented heroes (“The Dark Knight”) and, of course, your anti-heroes (“Watchmen”).
Which leaves regular Joe character actor Michael Rapaport to play, what else, a delusional superhero.
“Special,” hitting DVD shelves this week, seems like the antidote to the shopworn formula. A sad sack takes a trial medication and thinks it imbues him with super powers.
That singular premise isn’t enough to sustain a movie – even one clocking in under 90 minutes.
Rapaport plays Les, a single guy whose life isn’t exactly brimming with excitement. Naturally, he works as a parking enforcer, one of those jobs the movies tell us are relegated to losers.
He decides to enroll in an experimental drug program, although we’re not told exactly what he’s taking – or for what malady.
One pill later, Les thinks he can fly. A few more pills down the hatch and he’s convinced the medication has turned him into a superhero. But he looks like plain ol’ Les to everyone else.
What follows is a meditation on delusion and the fear of being so very, very ordinary. Sadly, the film strikes just that note far too often.
Rapaport remains a solid, and unsung character actor, one who can project a blend of blue-collar naivety and kindness. But his Les doesn’t give the actor much room to roam, and neither does the movie.
A few laughs emerge, especially when Les is confiding in a pair of comic book dweebs. But Les’s adventures don’t amount to much, and the film’s final sequences strain – in vain – to leave audiences with the feeling that something profound has taken place.
The indie drama “Special” scores points for originality and pinpoint casting, but it’s still a superhero film in search of a higher purpose.
(Photo: Michael Rapaport thinks he has super powers in the new indie drama “Special.”)
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