by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

At some point in our lives we all dream of being someone else, whether it’s a Police Officer, a Fire Fighter or a Doctor. In the case of Les Franken, he dreams of being a superhero and helping others. What happens when we actually get a chance to live our dream? Can one person change the world and what must he do to achieve his goals? These are the questions posed by the incredible film SPECIAL which stars Michael Rapaport as Les Franken.

Story:
Les is your average nobody. By day he is a Parking Enforcement Officer who has no respect from his peers and by night he is your average comic-book reader. He is one of those people who blend into the background and just doesn’t try to stand out in any situation.

In order to fight his depression, Les joins the trial for a new drug called “Specioprin Hydrochloride” (aka Special). After taking the drug, Les begins to develop certain unexpected side-effects…he begins to develop super-powers! He tries to show his friends his powers but they seem skeptical to say the least. His doctor wants to take him off the drug and is worried about how he is acting. Les begins testing out his new abilities through a series of hilarious scenes and realizes that he needs to put these powers to use and fight crime!Les creates his own superhero costume and uses the “Special” logo as his symbol for change.

Les’ exploits don’t go unnoticed and soon the police issue a warrant for his arrest and draws the attention of the company who created the drug. It turns out the Les is the only one who is experiencing any side-effects from the drug and want to stop him before he reveals to the world that their drug has caused their actions. Les believes the men want to take away his powers and must be stopped.

Overall:
I was extremely impressed with this film. It is dark and edgy, yet tragically deep and totally original. There has never been a film quite like this. Michael Rapaport does an amazing job as Les and really makes him understandable in the eyes of the audience. He excels as the underdog.

If you are a superhero fan: you MUST see this film. If you are a fan of Donnie Darko: you MUST see this film. This film easily climbs into the ranks of cult classic status.

Exclusive Interviews with Star Michael Rapaport and Writer/Directors Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore:
by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

We asked Writers/Directors Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore where they came up with the idea for this film. “A couple different things. I was reading variety and there was Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men… and I remember sitting on my deck drinking coffee and thinking of superheroes as a concept–thinking of Superman. I thought you know, Superman’s diary could really be a diary of a someone with dissociative disorder.”

Haberman and Passmore had planned to collaborate on a film together, but hadn’t decided yet on what exactly it would be. After weighing their all their film plot options, “We sorta backed into it. The idea was so intimidating and impossible that we knew that this film was what we were going to do.”

The writer/directors described their experience with their initial inability to find US distribution for Special as “Agony” but that eventually they stopped worrying about it and moved on to other things. “After Sundance, it played in the UK, but never got released here and sat in limbo until Magnolia came through.”

Star Michael Rapaport described himself as more into sports than comics when he was growing up, and how most of his superhero exposure before this film came from watching superhero movies with his kids. Hal and Jeremy described themselves as not classic comic geeks either, but really just converts since the rapid influx of comic movies in recent years. “Since then we’ve read every superhero movie that ever came out. Superman 2 was one of my favorite movies.”

When asked how they would describe the film if they were promoting it themselves, the writer/directors were quick to reply: “Heartfelt and Dangerous.”

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Special 5 out of 5 superpowers as well as its highest recommendation.

More Info:
SPECIAL is the second film in Magnet’s “Six Shooter Film Series,” a series of six films highlighting the vanguard of genre cinema from around the globe. Opening the series is Swedish film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN with four other films to follow over the coming months: Nacho Vigalondo’s TIMECRIMES (Spain), Ollie Blackburn’s DONKEY PUNCH (UK), BIG MAN JAPAN (Japan), and EDEN LOG (France).

SPECIAL is available on HDNet Ultra VOD Nov. 1, Sneak Preview on HDNet Movies Nov. 19 and In Theatres Nov. 21.

http://sixshooterfilmseries.com/special/

Keep an eye on our giveaways section in the forums for a possible upcoming exclusive item related to this film!