Special

Here is the superhero movie that film festival patrons have been waiting for. Les, a dull parking inspector and comic book geek, leads a painfully unremarkable life until he volunteers for a study of a new anti-depressant drug called Special. An unexpected side effect of the drug is that Les is soon convinced that he is developing special powers such as the ability to walk through walls, read minds, and defy gravity. When he decides that he must answer his new calling in life as a superhero, complete with home-made costume, the scene is set for an uncanny mixture of humour and pathos. Beautifully played by Michael Rappaport, Les’s view of his crime-fighting exploits alternates with a coldly dispassionate view of his delusions, the film produces a volatile mix of emotions out of the gap between the nourishing warmth of our fantasy lives and the cold harshness of reality. A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.

An at times very funny exploration of the soul-crushing tragedy of being just another schmuck.

The Scotsman