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Special (2008)

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57 %
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Reviews Counted: 28

Fresh: 16

Rotten:12

Average Rating: 5.7/10

Consensus: This quirky indie comedy's low budget is readily apparent, but it's elevated by Michael Rapaport's dedicated performance.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some violence and brief drug use.

Runtime: 82 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 21, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Les Franken (MICHAEL RAPAPORT) is a kind-hearted and soft-spoken man who loves reading comic books. He’s the type of guy who most people walk by on the street without even noticing; in essence,... Les Franken (MICHAEL RAPAPORT) is a kind-hearted and soft-spoken man who loves reading comic books. He’s the type of guy who most people walk by on the street without even noticing; in essence, he’s completely average and virtually invisible.

However, everything changes for Les the day he is accepted into an experimental drug study for a new and exciting anti-depressant, Specioprin Hydrochloride. As Les begins to take the drugs an unexpected side effect occurs – he begins to develop special powers: the ability to levitate, to read peoples’ minds, and even walk through walls.

Faced with the dilemma of how best to utilize his new “powers,” the answer seems obvious to Les. He puts together a homemade superhero suit and hits the streets to fight crime and protect the world from the forces of evil.

Surveillance video soon exposes Les and his actions to the public via television news and therefore brings him to the attention of the businessmen developing the drug. Worried about the bad publicity Les is bringing to their new anti-depressant, they attempt to put an end to his superhero antics before too much damage is done. However, in typical comic book fashion, Les sees the men from the drug company as his evil arch nemeses – “The Suits”— men who want him to join them in their evil plan to use ‘Special’ to create an army of unstoppable assassins. Les refuses to play ball. --© Magnolia Pictures [More]

Starring: Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Robert Baker

Starring: Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Robert Baker, Jack Kehler, Alexandra Holden, Ian Bohen, Christopher Darga

Director: Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore

Director: Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore
Screenwriter: Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore
Producer: Edward Parks, Frank Mele
Composer: Tom Wolfe, Manish Raval
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Release:

Mar 31, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Les Franken (MICHAEL RAPAPORT) is a kind-hearted and soft-spoken man who loves reading comic books. He’s the type of guy who most people walk by on the street without even noticing; in essence, he’s completely average and virtually invisible.
  • However, everything changes for Les the day he is accepted into an experimental drug study. As he begins to take the drugs, an unexpected
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Special

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    • RT Community
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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    Special offers a unique spin on the superhero template but rarely soars beyond its sly premise.

    Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | comment Comment
    03/31/09
    Christian Toto
    What Would Toto Watch?

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    01/03/09
    Michael Dequina
    Mr. Brown's Movies

    Special works as an honest portrait of little people with big dreams even if it remains itself a little movie without a big impact.

    Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
    11/26/08
    Todd Gilchrist
    IGN Movies

    I just thought it was a cool indie film with a great leading performance from an actor we don’t usually get to see in a lead.

    Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
    11/24/08
    Ben Lyons
    At the Movies

    The premise is intriguing, and the film is occasionally amusing, but it feels stuck between a completely satirical farce and an aching drama.

    Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
    11/24/08
    Ben Mankiewicz
    At the Movies

    The sight of him, bloodied but eternally unbowed, in his ridiculous, homemade superhero costume may indeed be totally iconic for true pulp believers.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    David Noh
    Film Journal International

    Take[s] a page from the cartoonist Bill Watterson, who noted of the tiger protagonist in his great Calvin & Hobbes, 'The nature of [the character's] reality doesn't interest me, and each story goes out of its way to avoid resolving the issue.'

    Full Review Source: House Next Door | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Keith Uhlich
    House Next Door

    Rappaport does a yeoman's job in this tonally confused oddity.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Lou Lumenick
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It may not be perfect, but this under-the-radar indie from Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore is smart enough to leave you glad you found it.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Ultimately it adds little to our understanding of the curious return of the superhero as our paradigmatic pop archetype.

    comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Nathan Lee
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Shot for pennies -- a cash limitation that benefits the production's creativity and credibility -- this haunting film keeps shifting the ground under our feet

    Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Amy Nicholson
    I.E. Weekly

    A beautiful metaphor for the desperate need to be important in a world where we rarely make personal connections any more, Special deserves to be seen.

    Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Jenna Busch
    UGO

    What begins as a mildly amusing indie lark descends into a depressingly unappealing exercise in mico-budget filmmaking.

    Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
    11/21/08
    Geoff Berkshire
    Metromix.com

    Its ambitions are limited -- though at 81 minutes, wisely proportioned -- but its heart is in the right place.

    Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
    11/20/08
    Scott Tobias
    AV Club

    A great genre film dissects authentic problems without attempting to supplant them. Reasonably enough, Special belongs to that category with the rest of Magnet’s Six Shooter Series.

    Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
    11/20/08
    Eric Kohn
    New York Press

    Special is an inexplicable downer that favors pathos over satire.

    Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
    11/20/08
    Mark Holcomb
    Time Out New York

    Thanks to Rapaport's brio in embracing the hero's drug-induced delusions, the movie is less a failure than a noble experiment gone awry.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    11/20/08
    Adam Markovitz
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Rappaport's befuddled sincerity has never registered so poignantly, but given its singular premise, for the film to waste an easy opportunity to satirize vigilante do-goodery and pharmaceutical dependence is, well, villainous.

    Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
    11/19/08
    Aaron Hillis
    Village Voice
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This fantasy battle between good and evil is merely a cute, minor idea with little depth and even less conscious purpose, fit for a 15-minute short rather than a feature-length narrative.

    Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
    11/16/08
    Nick Schager
    Slant Magazine

    Prankster moviemaking about a superhero duel with p-harm-aceutical barons, certain to make the deadly warnings whispered in all those gleeful drug commercials flooding TV sets across America, to never sound quite the same again.

    Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
    11/14/08
    Prairie Miller
    NewsBlaze
     
     
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    Latest News for Special

    November 27, 2008: Prankster moviemaking about a superhero duel with p-harm-aceutical barons, certain to make the deadly warnings whispered in all those gleeful drug commercials flooding TV sets across America, to never sound quite the same again. Opens in new window
    More...

    November 14, 2008: Prankster moviemaking about a superhero duel with p-harm-aceutical barons, certain to make the deadly warnings whispered in all those gleeful drug commercials flooding TV sets across America, to never sound quite the same again. Opens in new window
    More...

    November 03, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
    More...

    January 26, 2006: SUNDANCE: Weinberg's Sundance Scorecard
    With Senh, Jen, and Terrible Tim Ryan roaming the streets of Park City, the Tomato readers have had plenty of Sundance reports to pick through. But I thought I'd contribute my... More...

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