SPECIAL Is Everything That KICK ASS Is Not

On a slow Sunday, I decided to take a chance and sit down in the IGN Theater at NY Comic Con and watch the indie super-hero movie (of sorts) Special starring Michael Rapaport.

It is stark and decidedly indie in appearance. There's no gloss to it and clearly had to skimp on the shooting budget in order to pull off the few special effects used.

But it is good. Boy, is it good.

I never really knew what to expect from this film. The description of the movie in the NYCC program made it sound like it was supposed to be straight forward flick about Michael Rapaport's character becoming a super-hero after a pharmaceutical trial. But nothing about this movie is really straight forward.


Rapaport's character is a lowly meter maid who gets used and abused by just about all of those around him. He's really beaten into submission by his life. The drug is supposed to help him with his confidence and hopefully snap him of this life of suffering. But it isn't without its side effects.

I can't really detail much more about the movie without giving away elements that will really spoil a few of the better moments in the first half of the flick. But this is a movie that manages to be funny, sadistic, dark, inspiring, charming, and heartbreaking at different moments that really combine to make a film that stands out.

You'll recognize a few of the actors in the film aside from Rapaport. Paul Blackthorne (of the recently canceled BIG SHOTS on ABC), Jack Kehler and Christopher Darga (both faces you've seen many times) are examples of casting that add not only good actors but a bit of reassurance for your more mainstream viewer that stumbles on to the movie.

The surprise performance in the movie belongs to Robert Baker, who shows good range in the film. Mostly asked to provide witty one-liners, he pulls off some of the better emotional reactions of Rapaport's concerned friends. Josh Peck, who plays Baker's brother and co-owner of a comic shop, doesn't do so bad, either, but fails to pull off a moment that makes you forget he is acting briefly as Baker did.

I highly recommend seeking out this movie. It's well worth the time to watch.