Undescribable Perfection

A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A solid movie of the kind Hollywood can't make. A small but excellent cast tell a small but engrossing story of a normal man who wants to be something else.Rapport really steals/carries this, and his performance is flawless. The supporting cast are also all solid with Alexandra Holden doing a particularly stand-out job as the brilliantly understated love interest.If there is an off note anywhere in the film, it is the ending which slightly strains credulity but, more to the point, is not really clear in what it is trying to say.A film well worth watching, and talking about afterward.

Michael Rapaport really saves this movie. Without him it would be much less watchable. It has a very interesting story and it is very well executed in many ways, but has a lot of small missteps that detract from my ability to believe in it as a story.It's a story of a common, boring everyman (Rapaport) who enters a drug trial for an experimental drug that is supposed to remove people's self-doubt. On him, though, it goes too far, and he begins to believe that he has super powers. This part of the film is, for the most part, well-executed.However, a lot of little details don't ring true. I won't go through all of them, but early in the movie is one good example: A man goes into a comic book store and tries to sell a comic. We are supposed to believe he is homeless and desperate, but he doesn't look homeless. He has a long gray beard, yes, but he's dressed in clean clothes and his beard is meticulously groomed. It's like the director thought that a long beard was all you needed to look homeless.Additionally, this may sound like nit-picking, but the director's choice of music in some areas seems way off. A scene will look like it is trying to be dramatic and the music that is playing is some oddball high energy song. Sometimes this works well (like the ending of Dr. Strangelove) but in this case it just looks haphazard.Overall its worth a watch, but its unfortunate that the film makers couldn't go that extra step and make it a better film.

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.

Special is a superhero dramedy about Les (Michael Rapaport), a lonely man who agrees to test untested drugs. The drugs are supposed to have only minor defects, but Les believes that one of the drugs makes him think he's a superhero. The movie is funny and sweet, and it never feels like it's dragging. Josh Peck and Robert Baker are great as Les's nerd friends, Joey and Everett. Paul Blackthorne is also very good as Jonas, a man bent on taking down Les. But most of the credit goes to Michael Rapaport, an already good actor showing true potential. He makes you really feel for his character. Les also has a nice romance with a grocery store worker named Maggie (Alexandra Holden). You couldn't ask for more in a movie-brilliant, funny, sweet, fast paced, insightful, poignant, I could go on all day. It's a gem of a film that, unfortunately, didn't get many viewers. This should have been a big hit, but instead, it wasn't even a minor splash. If you like good movies, Special is on the top three of films you must see right away, it's truly unmissable.