Special (2008)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely amazing

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Hal Haberman directs "Special". The plot? Comic book fan Les Franken (Michael Rapaport) lives a lonely, dull and ignored existence. Spiralling into depression, he signs up for an experimental antidepressant. The drug has extreme side effects: Les believes himself to have superpowers, believes himself to be "special" and so sets out to rid his neighbourhood of crime.It's a dark and depressing film. Superheroes typically have alter-egos and of course function as giant alter-egos for audiences and readers. Here Les (literally "less") compensates for his brutalised self-esteem by jumping wildly in the other direction, becoming a grostesque, sad parody of your typical comic book hero. He thinks he's fighting crime, running through walls, is impervious to pain, but clever editing shows the opposite: Les looking pathetic, slamming into concrete and oozing blood.The film ignores the larger causes of Les' "invisibility" (we only know that he's a lonely civil worker whose job motto is "I'm important"), but gets right the outcome of low self-esteem. Les compensates first with wild fantasies, drugs, extremes of sensation and then becomes increasingly self-destructive. The film ends with Les accepting that "not everyone can be important" and finding heroism in the simple act of "keeping on living" (ie not committing suicide). Depressed yet? It's a dour, nauseating, noxious film.7/10 – Rapaport is excellent, and "Special's" premise is smart, but there's not enough meat here for a feature length film. Worth one viewing.

It took me quite a while to get past the cinematography. I could find no reason why the entire film was shot hand-held. It brought nothing to the story and was extremely distracting until I got past it and and started appreciating the acting and story. All DP's and directors should know when to put the camera on sticks and trust the actors to bring motion and emotion to the frame. The music was another stumbling bock for me. Extremely obvious and over the top choices were made throughout - and what's truly unfortunate is that I recognized a number of loops that were used in creating the score. Not a good sign. Having said all of this - I still laud the writers and directors for their effort and the actors for their work as well.

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 is one of those kinds of films. One you cannot describe in words, really. It is hilarious, ambitious, depressing, hopeful, honest, somber and solemn. Les, played perfectly by the incredibly underrated Michael Rapaport, is somebody you can relate to. Somebody that has hopes and dreams and love to give. He is confused and clinically depressed, but tries to see the good in life. Les, alone and barely managing, signs up to be a test subject to a new, secret drug not yet approved by the FDA. He begins to have side effects. What he believes to be real-life superpowers are actually delusions. But he has been engrossed by the life-style of a comic-book geek, letting loose his imagination and wondrous thoughts. He thinks he is the answer to humanity's problems. A savior of sorts. By the end, he realizes that he is not special in that normal sense of the word, but learns that he is one of the most special people because he is honest, kind and caring. He brings laughter and love to those he cares about, but later on stresses his two best friends out by taking them on a treacherous journey through the underworld of illegal prescription drugs and layers of truly evil people. The men in suits are the real-life Lex Luthors if you will. Complete antagonists that try and destroy Les' life and by those means, almost kill him.In terms of film-making, this is a masterpiece. Not only is the story and script perfectly toned and beautiful, the acting is tremendous and astounding. Michael Rapaport deserved an Oscar for his brutally physical and emotional portrayal of an unloved, kind-hearted man with dreams and depression. He plays the role so awe-inspiring, you will realize that nobody else could pull this role off. No stunt-man, and all him. From jumping off buildings to getting beaten by invisible Suits to getting hit by cars, he truly gives the performance of a life-time. His emotions are beaten down in the exact same way, though he is relentless. Everybody else is wonderful in this film, and Josh Peck shows his true talent as a young, naive pot-head.Special is one of those films you'll be thinking about for years to come. It is a beautifully executed masterpiece making this statement true to me: Special is the most underrated film of all time.