Review of Confessions of a Superhero (2007) by Andy C — 24 Apr 2009

If you've ever been to LA in front of Mann's Chinese theater and the surrounding area you've probably run into these people. They dress up as famous comic/film characters and pose for pictures with tourists. They work for 'tips'.

If you're at all curious about what it takes to do this for a living, then this is the feature for you. Unfortunately the majority of the focused upon characters fall into the 'moved to Hollywood to be an actor and wound up doing this' type story. We've seen plenty of these. These stories are cliche for a reason: They happen every day in Hollywood.

The exceptions are the guys doing Batman and Superman. The guy doing Batman has anger issues. (Would almost count as method acting if I thought this guy really did any research on the character.) He may or may not have been some kind of mob enforcer. He also has a slight resemblance to George Clooney. He could be a bit dangerous out on the streets.

The second guy does Superman and he's been on the scene for a while. He's got a big geek thing for the Man of Steel, but it serves him as a moral compass. He might be a bit delusional as well.

The film stays objective so you're not sure what to come away with on these characters. That's what documentaries are supposed to do. So you run the gamut of emotions. In the end you may feel that it's a bit tragic to see people persue their dreams, only to see them smashed against the rocks. Entertainment films have conditioned us to root for underdogs. We don't know how to deal with real people who don't have a script writer giving them a convenient loophole to achieve their passion.

On the other hand, I came away with admiration of the human spirit as each of these people has found a way to somewhat vent their muse. They've found a niche to belong to filmed entertainment whether it wants them to or not.