Special is a 2006 drama film written and directed by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore. It was released in theatres in the UK on November 17, 2006 and on DVD in the UK on March 5, 2007. It was released in theatres in the US in Winter 2008.
Plot
Les Franken (Michael Rapaport) is a typical police station meter maid who, on a whim signs up for an experimental antidepressant called Specioprin Hydrochloride. He signs a confidentiality contract with Dr. Dobson (Jack Kehler) who provides the drug, despite not having gotten Les' blood test results back, and instructs him to take one pill per day. Les creates a diary for his experiences, but is rather disappointed when he doesn't feel any results over the next few days. An avid comic fan, Les expresses his passion and admiration for superheroes, often describing his own feelings of envy toward their strength and dedication to fighting crime. His two best friends Joey (Josh Peck) and his older brother Everett (Robert Baker) are owners of a local comic shop that Les frequents. His feelings of reluctance also keep him from getting to know Maggie (Alexandra Holden) a girl who works at a grocery store, but never really seems to talk.
After several days of taking the pill, Les begins to experience supernatural powers, beginning with the ability to float when he concentrates. Paying a visit to Dobson, he attempts to display his gifts, but while he sees himself floating, Dobson sees him laying on the floor. He assumes that Les is having an adverse psychotic reaction to the drug, and orders him to stop taking it immediately, reminding him of the contract that Les signed not to reveal his drug to anyone. Les uses suddenly found powers of telepathy to listen to Dobson's mental orders NOT to stop taking the drug otherwise he would lose his powers for good. Setting aside his senses he continues taking the pills. Gaining a new self confidence, he quits his job in order to become a crime fighting vigilante full time, and quickly gains a reputation for randomly tackling people in convenience stores after stopping a gunman from robbing Maggie's store. He confides his new gifts to Joey and Everett, who think he's playing around when he displays his new power to run through solid objects. Les then attempts to sign onto the Police force but has to escape before he is brought into custody for his attacks on innocent civilians.
After Dobson learns that Les is still taking the drug, and getting worse he calls on two representatives for the drug, Ted (Ian Bohen) and Jonas (Paul Blackthorne) to attempt to talk Les out of taking the drugs. Les believes they are there simply to take his powers away, and finds they are very powerful. Using his newest powers of teleportation, he manages to escape and heads to the comic shop. Everett and Joey learn that Les is serious about believing in his superpowers and opt to get him medical attention. On the way, Les has the pair stop the car and he successfully stops a purse snatching by jumping off a roof and onto the robber. They take him to Dr. Dobson who gives them a liquid to flush the remnants of the medication out of him, Les flees them and finds that Jonas and Ted had broken into his apartment and are reading through his diary, talking about kidnapping him for a few days for the drug to work its way out of his system, and that no one would miss someone like him.
After another confrontation with Dobson, he confesses that the drug was bought by a reputable company after previous test subjects had no side effects to the antidepressant and Les' psychotropic reaction could in fact ruin the company if the word got out. Dobson notes that he had given up the money for the drug in an attempt to recover his own career and life, and in response, Les downs the remainder of the pills. After Les leaves, he encounters Ted and Jonas and he uses his powers to make them disappear, but even while 'invisible' to him, they chase him down, and Jonas begins to beat up Les, hitting him with a board and kicking him down until he relents. Les then snaps and uses the same board to knock both Jonas and Ted out. Realizing that he is slowly losing his mind, he runs to the only refuge he can think of; Maggie's store. She reveals she likes him, but is ashamed to speak to him due to a bad stutter, but Les admits he likes her voice, and asks to be locked in the store's lavatory until he can work the drug out of his system. Maggie, who had wanted to take him to a hospital, agrees and stows enough water to last him through the night, and he takes the antitoxin that he had gotten from Dobson earlier. Les awakens the following morning and to his relief and disappointment he finds he cannot float. In his pained walk home, Ted runs him down with their Cadillac, knocking Les over their roof and onto the street behind them. Annoyed with Jonas's methods, Ted gets out of the car and runs when Les gets up, and Jonas reverses and runs him over again, knocking Les to the front of the car. Jonas watches as Les gets back up, determined not to let himself be defeated. His resolve broken, Jonas watches as Les walks off, injured, but a more confident person without his powers than he had been at the beginning of the film.
Cast
- Michael Rapaport as Les Franken, a reluctant, shy 'ordinary' person who believes he gains super powers through the use of a tested control drug.
- Paul Blackthorne as Jonas Exiler the head representative of a company which purchased the rights for the Special drug. He will go to any lengths to protect his company's reputation and keep the bad side effects that Les is experiencing from reaching the public eye.
- Josh Peck as Joey, Everett's younger brother, he is easily impressed and believes Les' story of being super powered after seeing him perform a tremendous feat.
- Robert Baker as Everett, Joey's older more cynnical brother who loves Les like another brother. He is the more sensible of the pair, but also indulges himself in recreational drugs.
- Jack Kehler as Dr. Dobson, the doctor prescribing the Special drug as a test drug, he is in it for the money and often tries to deny knowing Les after the side effects take hold.
- Alexandra Holden as Maggie, a silent, shy girl with a stutter who works at a grocery store. Les has a crush on her but is often too shy to mention anything, he reveals his feelings to her and sees her as the only person he can really trust.
- Ian Bohen as Ted Exiler, Jonas' younger brother who can't stand the way his brother deals with their business and often relents where Jonas will go to keep his company reputation clear.
- Christopher Darga as Steve, Les' optimistic boss.
Production
Response
Box office and DVD performance
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Critical Reception
See also
References
External links
