Super

[3.5
stars] [IMDB Link]

[Amazon Link]
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There are dark comedies, and then there are really dark comedies. This one is as black as Lutheran church-basement coffee. Dark enough so that every chuckle was accompanied by a little pang of guilt: Am I a bad person for finding this amusing? So consumer beware: it's not for the kiddos, or those easily offended, or maybe even the mentally healthy. But I liked it.

Rainn Wilson plays Frank, the very definition of a schlub, working away as a cook in a greasy spoon. Against all odds, he's married to to the lovely Sarah (Liv Tyler)—OK, you have to really strain credulity to buy that, work with me here. But their relationship is going south: she's taken up with a bad element, and dropping back into old habits of drinking and drugs.

Specifically: the Bad Element is "Jacques" (Kevin Bacon): a total sleaze, apparently a drug kingpin of some sort. Frank's initial efforts to break Sarah away from Jacques fail miserably.

Frank decides (after what seems to be divine intervention) to become a costumed superhero. Also, by most people's standards, he goes nuts. Since he lacks in the superpower department, he carries a pipe wrench. (Which he not only uses on muggers and perverts, but also people cutting in line at the theatre.) With mixed feelings, he acquires a sidekick (Ellen Page) who turns out to be even crazier. Things build up to an epic finale.

This marks a reunion for Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page, because he had a small but memorable role in Juno a few years back. The movie is written and directed by James Gunn, who previously did the kinda-funny horror film Slither, also pretty good.


Last Modified 2024-01-28 2:27 PM EDT