‘Specials’ Superheroes Possess the Gift of Gab

“The Specials” is an unfortunate name for a film that’s anything but. It’s all talk and no action in the most literal sense, yet its title refers to a team of superhumans dedicated to putting their unusual powers in the service of doing good deeds in the tradition of Superman. Alas, they are always coming in second in comparison to other such teams. When a toy conglomerate selects them for a line of action figures in their images, the Specials start feeling special again, but to be sure, there’s a hitch.

Debuting director Craig Mazin, who scripted “Rocket Man” and “Senseless,” and his writer James Gunn (who also plays one of the Specials) seem to be in an anti-special effects mode--or maybe they were simply constrained by their obviously low budget. In any case, it would really have helped to see the Specials in action--to see their leader, Ted the Strobe (Thomas Haden Church), shoot laser beams out of his arm--and show how his counterpart on another team does it better, for humorous effect.

Instead, the Specials sit around talking, talking, talking until a crisis erupts that will either serve to demoralize them further or to reunite them. In short, the Specials seem increasingly like mere mortals having to cope with everyday problems of marital fidelity, self-interest, etc.; the problem is that the filmmakers fail to show them as superhuman at the start, so they simply seem throughout as being inundated with standard yuppie angst over personal and professional crises.

The Specials’ team star is the Weevil, described vaguely as a pest dispenser, and while he is as well-played as humanly possible under the circumstances by Rob Lowe, you have to feel that it’s unfortunate that this hopeless little picture is surfacing just as Lowe is riding the crest of a hard-won comeback with TV’s “The West Wing.” “The Specials” is being promoted as “Spinal Tap” meets “Scream.” Whatever that means, it certainly doesn’t describe this limp loser.

* MPAA rating: R, for some strong language. Times guidelines: not much action, just bad language.

‘The Specials’

Rob Lowe: The Weevil

Thomas Haden Church: The Strobe (Tim)

Paget Brewster: Ms. Indestructible (Emily)

Jamie Kennedy: Amok (Bob)

A Regent Entertainment presentation of a Mindfire Entertainment production in association with Brillstein/Grey Entertainment. Director Craig Mazin. Producers Dan Bates, Mark A. Altman, Rick Mischel. Executive producers Mark & Ellie Gottwald. Cinematographer Eliot Rockett. Editor Stephen Garrett. Music supervisor Spring Aspers. Costumes Nickolaus Brown. Production designer Dorian Vernacchio. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes.

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