Thursday, March 24, 2005

The Specials (2000)

So it's pretty obvious that James Gunn is a talented but uneven screenwriter. The success of his works depend on the strengths of his collaborators. Match him up with talented and passionate people (Zack Snyder, Lloyd Kaufman) and his works can seem inspired. Stick him with someone who could give less of a fuck (Raja Gosnell) and the results are painful. Which is to say that this film, a superhero spoof that demonstrates what Mystery Men would have been if the superheroes really were as lame as they seemed, has some funny ideas and scenes but needed a bit more shoring up and definitely needed a stronger, subtler director than Craig Mazin. Mazin is generally a writer, though not a very good one (at the time of this film's creation, he'd been credited for the Harlan Williams vehicle RocketMan and the Marlon Wayans film Senseless), and this is his only directorial credit for a reason: He's even more worthless behind the camera than he is at the typewriter. His setups are barely competent, he can't nail a decent two-shot and he brings a slapstick pacing to something that needed a deadpan Jarmusch-style sense. Gunn is taking this concept seriously, but Mazin isn't, which makes the film's attempts to make these goofballs feel like real characters rather embarassing. Also, Mazin is atrocious with actors -- look at the cast and then realize what it means when Gunn himself gives the best performance. This really should have worked, so it's aggravating when you can pinpoint why it didn't.

Grade: C

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