Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

A lot of fun.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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.

Aside from the time I spilled hot coffee on my lap during "Fiddler on the Roof", I'd say this is one of the most powerful experiences I've had while watching a movie.This quirky gem of a film is 25% comedy, 25% tragedy, 25% feel-good, 25% depressing, and 100% awesome. Starting off with the most preposterous plot (i.e., a lonely metermaid guy develops special abilities and fights crime while running from strange men in suits), it quickly develops into much more than meets the eye. It's essentially the story of the lone, forgotten individual who's trying to make a difference in this world. In that respect, it can be a sad film. But at the same time it can be funny, warm and deeply inspiring.Thanks largely to an absolutely brilliant performance by Michael Rapaport as the metermaid guy, this movie takes you on a crazy ride through every emotion you've ever had and some you haven't had yet. I laughed, felt sad, felt angry, felt the warm fuzzies, felt pity and felt empowered. I can't remember the last time I cared so much about a movie character. It's funny because I began watching this film not liking him very much (after all, who likes metermaids??), but quickly he became one of the most lovable misfits since "Amélie".Never have I seen the plight of the superhero so wonderfully presented and fleshed out in human terms. Whether we wear a cape or not, we're all trying to change the world in our own ways. You, yes you sitting there reading this, could be a superhero. This movie presents us with that idea, and (unlike Spiderman, Batman, Catwoman, etc) it does not slip into fantasy territory where we lose touch with our perspective. Instead it remains firmly rooted in reality and thus allows us to see ourselves in the hero's role. That's where this movie draws its power to affect us. It's the story of us all. Watch it and learn about yourself & the people around you.Other great, obscure movies that this reminded me of: a Michael Keaton film called "The Merry Gentleman" (2008), a must-see Korean movie called "The Foul King" (2000), and a powerful Australian flick called "Noise" (2007).

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.

I'd heard about "Special" for a couple of months before I'd seen it. Being a comic book geek, I had to check it out. Believe the hype, hey.It's certainly a dark film, sometimes moving and other times extremely funny ("Okay. Watch this-" SLAM!). The main character certainly takes his beatings, both physically and mentally; by the end of the film he's covered in a mass of black and blue bruises. By the time the film fades to the credits, he can barely walk. The film doesn't mince around the fact that the main character is delusional on account of the drugs he's given, and that only makes it more harrowing. As the film progresses, you're really not sure what's real and what's a hallucination, what was said and what wasn't. It's a downward spiral, and the film, while lightly optimistic, is very bleak.Michael Rappaport's always good, and he shines here as Les, particularly near the end in the 'bathroom' scenes and a moving scene that I won't spoil for any of the readers, but it comes unexpectedly. Really, the entire cast gives a remarkable performance, though. I swear, I'm seeing that kid from "Mean Creek" in more and more stuff; he's getting to be a great actor.Watching the film over again, you can really pick up on certain little things in the beginning; like the scene in the comic shop, Les' 'big reveal' to his two buddies. Look at his nose after he jumps back through the wall. Just various things like that are sprinkled everywhere throughout the film,This is a great film; if you can't buy it, download it. But watch it.