Review of Special (2006) by Paul W — 24 Mar 2012

Don't know how I missed hearing about this indie movie, apparently the inspiration for Woody Harrelson's more recent Defendor. Unlike Defendor, the deluded superhero of Special is not a man of limited intelligence, but a solitary underachiever who enters a state of drug-induced schizophrenia wherein he believes he has superpowers and can read minds telepathically.

Otherwise Defendor pretty much copied Special, and now I like Harrelson's movie less, knowing it ripped off so much of this one. You can take what happens in Special in many different ways; probably the easiest interpretation is the one I took, that Les is schizo and is imagining everything.

But the script leaves you an out if you want to believe Les is perhaps half right, and that's kind of fun too. I'd rate Special higher if only I understood the final scene. Knowing whether Les is simply insane, or has become a real hero, is the key to the ending, and I didn't have the key.