Special

Maybe at one time or another we've all wished for super powers. I know I had a dream for a while that I could fly. Others, I'm sure, have hoped for telepathy or x-ray vision.

But in the end, we're only human. We don't get to soar above the clouds, or walk through walls or teleport to China.

The film Special visits this secret hope with its main character Les (Michael Rapaport). An ordinary man who works for parking enforcement and spends his free time reading comic books, his life is turned upside down when he signs up for a medical study. After he starts taking the pills, he begins to develop superpowers. Suddenly, Les can fly, read people's minds, teleport, and run through walls"”or so he thinks.

The premise of Special is promising. It explores deep issues of a human fear of being ordinary, and our society's current obsession with superheroes. Like its main character, Special is imperfect, but overcomes an average life to become something a bit more significant.

When it turns out Les is just going crazy from the pills, his character walks a fine line. We are expected to sympathize with his desire to be something more than ordinary, but can we really sympathize with someone who's one fry short of a Happy Meal? When he first starts taking the pills, he asks the doctor, "How long till I start feeling, you know, different?" We all know he means different than everyone else.

Where Special is really, well, special, is in its exploration of two themes. First, the desire of human beings to be unique; Whether a person longs for fame, fortune or superiority in some other form, humans are constantly striving to be more important than others. What this often leads to can be debilitating disappointment. For Les, transforming from an ordinary meter maid (one of the most despised people on the streets, if you will) to a crime fighter is his way to matter.

Special also comes out at a pivotal time. The film business has been recently saturated with a plethora of superhero movies: Iron Man's kicking butt, and The Dark Knight is lighting up the streets. But this film lacks the blockbuster special effects of either recent film, and instead brings us into a real world of sorts"”a hybrid of hero and loser.

The story itself is small-scale, with only a few other characters and extras. There's the bad guys: owners of the pill who hope to stop Les before he ruins their reputation; the love interest: a quiet, mousy market clerk; and Les' friends: a couple of stoners who run the comic book store. But none of their story lines are developed beyond their role in ruining or helping Les' life.

When we realize that Les is more crazy than special, it's hard to stay on his side. Because

crazy is often scary. Rapaport, however, does an upstanding job in keeping his melancholy, desperate character in our favor. He proves that while he's often been on the border of mainstream Hollywood, he has the talent to carry a film.

At times, our journey with Les feels like we too are on some sort of medication. Slow, stretched out scenes go on forever. While from time to time this can feel artistic and fitting, it is overused in this film, causing the overall effect to feel painfully slow. It meanders in high-contrast colors, leaving a sense of a lack of direction. And what could have been a great exploration into Les' relationship with others and himself, dwindles into a one-note story about his battle against the pharmaceutical "suits."

Maybe we can't expect too much from Special. After all, it's a low-budget, limited distribution production. It's perhaps unfair to compare it to any of those big-bang movies, because it's not a fair playing field here.

For what it's worth, Special wanders near some interesting themes in a new way, just barely missing what could have been a gripping exploration of the human spirit, and what does or does not make us special.

Movie Grade: C