Special (2006) - Synopsis
SPECIAL, an offbeat dark comedy, follows the journey of Les Franken played
by Michael Rapaport (Hitch, Grilled) as a superhero for our chemically
enhanced time.
Les Franken, a lonely parking enforcement officer who enjoys reading comic
books, decides to take part in a clinical trial for a new and exciting
antidepressant called 'Special'.
An unexpected side effect of the drug renders him with superpowers - or so
he thinks. While his doctor dismisses the drug's side effects as an adverse
psychological reaction to the medication, Les takes his cue from the comics
he reads to embrace his newfound ³powers² and quits his job to devote his
life to fighting evil, real or imagined.
Les is an every day kind of superhero, the apparently gifted and yet
disturbed human who wishes to save the world. Writers Hal Haberman and
Jeremy Passmore based some of the characters on friends from their youth and
use their experiences of drug use, which include the use of anti-depressant
medication, in the months leading up to production.
