Special

An introverted meter maid attempts to change his pathetic personal life by participating in an anti-anxiety drug study, but quickly runs into some psychotic side-effects. When the drug alters his perception of reality, his mind takes the cue to mean he's developed super powers, which he immediately applies to the streets as a self-styled hero. A dark comedy that's quite similar to Rainn Wilson's odd comic book send-up Super, Special is often hopelessly lost in the deep, complicated middle ground between absurdist comedy and bleak, grizzled reality. Character actor and stand-up comic Michael Rapaport plays a good sympathetic lead, but his naïve nature and good intentions only make the tribulations he endures that much more difficult to watch. It's a light, energetic first act that's backed by a tough, distressed greater story, and the frequent reminders that the protagonist is hallucinating steal most of the drama from its root concept. A troubling little package that doesn't quite manage to settle its own private identity crisis.