Low budget does not necessarily mean ineffective. With one million dollars, Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore manage to deliver an interesting story. The talent isn't comprised of big names, but consists of solid actors. While Special is obviously low budget, I am amazed at what they accomplished.
Les (Michael Rappaport) signs up for a study to determine any side effects for a drug designed to block depression. When Les develops super-powers, he quits his lousy job as meter-maid to fight crime full-time. His passion for comic books appears to have influenced his brain chemistry, causing him to believe he can actually run through walls and levitate. He interprets the world around him through comic book villainy, causing him to perceive attempts to help him as deception. As Les spirals downward, his actions begin to take on a quality that makes the audience question whether he really has acquired special powers. He finds that tenacity can be painful. On the bright side, he isn't suffering from depression...
Special succeeds with strong characters and an awkward balance creating enough doubt to keep the audience guessing. While the ending was anti-climactic, I found the story engaging and unique. With a bigger budget, this story could be honed into a high quality film based on characters and writing. The dialogue was great, with an interesting approach used to create miscommunication. Good writing and strong acting help this film overcome a non-existent budget.
Rappaport has done dozens of films, although not often as the star. He demonstrates his acting chops in an incredible performance that made me forget how ugly the film looked. Rappaport took this low-budget film on his shoulders and carried it without breaking a sweat. His performance was spot on. He was supported by a solid cast that included middle-weights Josh Peck, Robert Baker and Alexandra Holden.
Special creates modestly decent special effects within budget. Good camera work helped quite a bit, but at times felt choppy. The film had an ugly look that seemed to come from cheap costumes and rough cuts. I am not sure how this film managed an R rating, but some bad language and violence are probably the cause. It didn't seem to merit an R. I would go as low as nine or ten for my personal age restriction. This 2006 film has a run time of one hour, 21 minutes.
Special is, itself, special. With an incredibly paltry budget, the film attracted a decent slate of talent who took a decent script and made it work. While the special effects were okay, they weren't spectacular, but much better than you would expect from such a cheap film. I was impressed. If I were to rate based on budget, I would give this film 8/10. But I am going to rate it on merit. 6.5/10.
