Popular reviews

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  Review by arLopez ★★★★

  In short: Like, what if Travis Bickle of ‘Taxi Driver’ thought he’d gain superpowers — but was just, like, slowly going insane?

  Michael Rapaport has never been known fer having the greatest range; but he was definitely meant to play this role.

  The film manages to be hilarious, engaging, depressing — and very underrated.

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  Review by Lucy Alice 🌿 ★★★★

  The concept of this alone is really interesting to me... It delves deep into the human brain with its insecurities and doubts... I mean, what really IS real and what IS not???!!!

  Special really sparked my interest with it's message alone, not taking into account the true arthouse aesthetic in colouring and framing. Such a lovely, thought-provoking, subtle yet charming little gem of a film.

  Every one of us is a superhero in our own little, eccentric kind of ways...

  >Available on Amazon Prime<

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  Review by Waldo ★★★½

  Saw like 15 minutes back when it came out and abandoned it. Finally got around to it. It's a "what if?"scenario of an ordinary guy, a meek parking ticket guy comic fan that "develops powers"after participating on a drug trial. Michael Rappaport is perfect here. Very low key but well done with very funny moments and some drama mixed into it. A metermaid! That's what they're called. Not parking ticket guy.

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  Review by Cinemaddict ★★½ 3

  Special is a dramedy that could have benefited from more comedy and less drama. There were spots that were funny, but mostly the serious and depressing tone held these moments down. I think it could have been a really funny movie if they had gone for more of a straight satire. I'm not convinced though that anything could have made the dramatic side of this work. The huge shame of course is that beloved character actor Michael Rapaport gets a rare starring role and does a really good job in a movie that ends up kind of wasting what was an interesting premise.

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  Review by suttercain ★★★

  Sweet and slight with a rare non-annoying Rappaport performance. Very heavy indie vibes with a fair amount of quirk.

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  Review by WizardmanJones ★★★

  So do you think Michael Rapaport actually knows he's an actor? He always kind of feels like someone ambushed him outside a baseball stadium and tricked him into reading his lines. I genuinely like him, I just can't be sure he knows what he's doing.

  In any case, a pretty entertaining dark comedy. Just as the initial short-film-worthy premise of "man in drug test thinks he's gaining superpowers; isn't" starts to run out, Rapaport pretty fluidly switches from being adorably crazy to "oh man he's getting dangerous" crazy.

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  Review by Conor ★★★½ 1

  Known about this one for a while, mostly thanks to the trailer, which made it seem like a comedy. It really wasn't. The first half plays out like you'd expect but around 40 minutes in this takes a much more serious and dramatic approach showing just how far Les has gone in his delusions. Michael Rapaport makes for a strong lead and does well with this kind of character. I think the approach this takes of showing how caught up in the delusions Les is is interesting. Overall I'd recommend it

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  Review by Arianna Baptista ★★★★

  definitely would like a lot more people to check this one out. But ignore the imovie font at the beginning lol

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  Review by Filmbantha ★★★★

  100 Essential Films That Deserve More Attention #68

  In an era dominated by superhero films it's easy to overlook the fact that we haven't always been inundated with caped crusaders and otherworldly beings who possess fantastical powers. Back in 2006, before the superhero hype machine really began to kick in, a low budget indie film was released that tackled the genre from a unique perspective. This film was Special, a passion project by Directors Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore, starring Michael Rapaport as Lester, a ticket warden who is convinced he is developing supernatural powers after signing up for an experimental drug trial.

  Lester's unwavering belief in his ability to levitate and read people's minds becomes the catalyst for him…

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  Review by Rick Dabagian ★★½ 4

  Special is an ok movie. It's only 81 minutes long and had a tiny budget so don't expect much, but it's not terrible.

  Michael Rapaport is the lead. I like the guy, but I'm not sure he's a very good actor. I prefer him in a smaller role or at a Knicks game. His character enrolls in a clinical drug trial and he believes he has developed superpowers.

  I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone other than someone who has seen just about everything else and enjoys these lesser known flicks. I'll leave it at that, there's not much to see here

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  Review by Kyle ★★★★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  Review by Ethan ★★★

  This is kinda like Joker if it actually had something to say, and was at least semi-competent at doing the whole ambiguous narrative thing.

  But my more important takeaway here is that if Josh Peck hadn't lost all that weight he probably would've become a beloved indie movie character actor. Sure he's a total Chad now, but at what cost?