Maybe you're not old enough to remember The Power by Frank M. Robinson. ( I understand it's been updated and re-released - they tried to change some of the anacronysms.) That's not the point, really. The book had the most marvelous premise - someone with super powers uses them for ill (unlike X men, Superman,
Spiderman, etc. ). The book was so memorable that, fifty years later, when I saw the Indie Movie Sidekick, I immediately thought of The Power. Sidekick is, admittedly, rough around the edges. I understand it was shot with a hand held camera. The acting is, at times, less than professional (except for Baldwin brother Daniel, who eerily sounds like his older sib Alec), and, because it was shot in Canada, several actors occasionally slip and say "aboot" instead of about. But it moves along and engrosses the viewer and is blessedly short (87 minutes) at a time when movies are getting longer and longer. The writer(s) must have read Robinson's classic because the premise is similar. But now other elements are brought in - the comic book subculture of IT nerds, an exegesis of good versus evil, and the stereotypical corporate world. Sidekick provides the perfect counterpoint to the current resurgence of superhero movies. Suffice to say, just as there were surprises in The Power, there are surprises in Sidekick.
April 21, 2010
