Despite its grand metaphor about little people with big dreams often having to give them up for a painful dose of The Real World, the film works better as a neat little indie comedy chock-full of goofiness.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 15, 2023

Wildly funny at times, the film aims to break your heart and despite pushing its own special powers to their limits I think it succeeds.

| May 21, 2020

It seems that Haberman and Passmore's film is just as unsure of itself as Les: is Special a comedy, a political statement, an action film or a tragedy?

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Oct 2, 2019

Special is flawed, mainly because the supporting cast are not given sufficient screen time to stoke interest, yet it's undoubtedly the most intriguing dissection on superhero mythology since M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 3, 2018

Special offers a unique spin on the superhero template but rarely soars beyond its sly premise.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 31, 2009

The quiet-yet-hip tone of the film reminded me a lot of Roger Dodger, another indie film that let's its script and acting do the talking.

| Original Score: B | Feb 11, 2009

Eccentric, depressing thriller won't grab teens' attention.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 27, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 3, 2009

Special works as an honest portrait of little people with big dreams even if it remains itself a little movie without a big impact.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 26, 2008

I just thought it was a cool indie film with a great leading performance from an actor we don't usually get to see in a lead.

| Nov 24, 2008

The premise is intriguing, and the film is occasionally amusing, but it feels stuck between a completely satirical farce and an aching drama.

Full Review | Nov 24, 2008

The sight of him, bloodied but eternally unbowed, in his ridiculous, homemade superhero costume may indeed be totally iconic for true pulp believers.

| Nov 21, 2008

Take[s] a page from the cartoonist Bill Watterson, who noted of the tiger protagonist in his great Calvin & Hobbes, 'The nature of [the character's] reality doesn't interest me, and each story goes out of its way to avoid resolving the issue.'

| Nov 21, 2008

Rappaport does a yeoman's job in this tonally confused oddity.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 21, 2008

It may not be perfect, but this under-the-radar indie from Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore is smart enough to leave you glad you found it.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 21, 2008

Ultimately it adds little to our understanding of the curious return of the superhero as our paradigmatic pop archetype.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 21, 2008

Shot for pennies -- a cash limitation that benefits the production's creativity and credibility -- this haunting film keeps shifting the ground under our feet

| Original Score: A- | Nov 21, 2008

A beautiful metaphor for the desperate need to be important in a world where we rarely make personal connections any more, Special deserves to be seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 21, 2008

What begins as a mildly amusing indie lark descends into a depressingly unappealing exercise in mico-budget filmmaking.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 21, 2008

Its ambitions are limited -- though at 81 minutes, wisely proportioned -- but its heart is in the right place.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 20, 2008