bregund
The pathetic lives of Hollywood street performers are played out in excruciating detail in this film, as they imitate a success they will never attain, while they pose for pictures with tourists. These are back stories that we don't want to see: Sandy Dennis's son (is he or isn't he?), a thin, lizard-like man in a sweaty costume you can almost smell through the television, looking nothing like Christopher Reeve even though he insists he does. An aging, red-haired Batman with anger issues who can't find work because he insists that he resembles George Clooney. A Wonder Woman with no solid plans for the future, drifting into L.A. and making one poor life choice after another, and insisting that she's happy wasting her life away. A formerly homeless Hulk. A bipolar Marilyn Monroe angry about getting stiffed six times in a row on tips. It's all here, in great, ugly, detail; show it to your kids as a cautionary tale about staying in school.Among the many cringeworthy scenes in the film is Superman's visit to Metropolis, a tiny, sun-baked hamlet in the middle of nowhere, where the apparently 50-year-old Superman entertains a crowd of one hundred people and gets to meet none other than Margot Kidder, who hasn't made a film in twenty years, then proceeds to marry his girlfriend while still wearing his sad costume. This is the most depressing film I've seen in a long time.
thesar-2
I've seen plenty, though certainly not the majority, of documentaries, and I must say Confessions of a Superhero is one of the most widely original to date. What other director tackles not just superheroes, but panhandlers posed as fantasy characters hanging around for a few bucks for a picture with tourists?Now, a premise can't sustain an entire feature, so luckily, Director Ogens kept up the decent pacing with the backgrounds, decent and sometimes laugh out loud dialogue and earnest people trying to make a living. In addition, the focus, the instrumental music and freeze frames were all effective and moved the "drama" through to the end. Ogens truly made you care if these people succeed or not.Though there are other characters out there, including Marilyn Monroe, Ghost Rider and a few Star Wars & Sesame Street tributes, the movie focuses on four main panhandlers: Superman (Dennis), Batman (Allen), Wonder Woman (Wenger) and The Hulk (McQueen.) I do hate using that word: panhandlers, even though that's how they categorized themselves. After watching this, I side with "Performers" or even "Street Performers." None of them are homeless, each have somewhat of a family – aside from Hulk, unfortunately for him and each make even more than me at times.During this well laid out journey, we get interviews with the subjects, of course, but a lot of their families and videos of their youths or adulthood, such as a marriage trip to Las Vegas. My personal favorite was a trip made to Metropolis, Illinois and that – sorry, spoiler – is basically the climax. Personally, I was wrapped up in the film, but I was thoroughly looking forward to that because, well…I've been there!Picture it: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 (I only remember the exact day, because it was the day of the first OJ Simpson verdict) East Peoria, Ill, me and my friend were visiting, and scouting out if we were going to move to Illinois, and we were getting ready to make the journey down south to the very, VERY southern tip of Illinois. We left the hotel late – again, everyone was in the lobby watching the verdict on the tele, but way unbeknownst to me how far this journey south would be, not to mention I got lost once.We didn't make it to Metropolis until late, like 6 or 7PM, it ended up as a 6 hour drive with the (Certainly no MapQuest/GPS in those days for normal folk) getting lost stint. Unfortunately, everything was pretty much closed. So we just wandered the town for a bit, I took plenty of pics with my cheap camera. Since this is my only, hopefully not forever, trip there since (15 years) I wish I had a better camera. And then we simply went back to the hotel in Peoria, Ill.Sorry to get off track, these are just as much as my blogs/journals as they are my reviews.Anyways…so Supe and his wife make it there following The ULTIMATE Superman, Christopher Reeve just passed on. There, they meet Margot Kidder – my #1 Lois Lane, and a few big surprises happen.Back to the LA streets, namely in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre, you'll dive into Wenger's story of yearning to be in the entertainment industry, or just plain acting. There's really no reason she shouldn't be; she's gorgeous and not only can she perform well – speaking mainly from her auditions, she can certainly act circles around a lot of the actresses I see in movies today, namely Kristen Stewart in Twilight.Also there's the "black" Hulk, or black under, McQueen who was homeless and worked his way up high enough to get the Hulk's job on the street. I only bring up black, because he does a few times.Finally the real stars of this documentary on these performer's journey for tips from tourists: Allen's Batman and Dennis's Superman. I'll begin with Allen. Seriously – this man was Batman, in and out. He's a martial artist, he's thoroughly angry and before they mentioned it in the movie, I noticed his uncanny resemblances to George Clooney – Movie Batman #3. This is his unfortunate downfall, as he didn't plan on donning a costume to spread his cape around strangers; he truly came to Hollywood to be an actor, only no one will hire a look-alike.Luckily, he has his wife and his anger to fall back on. But, he gets along with his rock, Dennis, who took him in and keeps him on solid ground, so to speak.And finally, Dennis…Say what you will, but damn! This guy looked so incredibly close to the late Reeve – the thin one. Like there's a Fat & Skinny Elvis, Reeve also had those phases. To boot, he's a huge Superman Fan – SO AM I, btw – and he's got his place covered, wall to wall with collectables. In addition, he takes his time thoroughly preparing for the street roll. He must use half a can of hairspray on that Superman Curl. All that, and he's got the lingo, the morals (out, when he's performing, that is) and dialogue down pat.I envy this guy. If I had half the balls as this guy's, I'd be out there too, all dressed up. Unfortunately for me, I'd be so caught up in character, literally trying to jump and fly, I'd forget I was there for tips.Ah-hem…anyways, this movie was very good. It's deep, but not too deep and just perfect for the subject matter. Sure, some of the drama was reached for, but it's forgivable since it wasn't over-the-top like the dumbass reality shows on TV. So…it's no "MTV's Real World: DC Universe."
Kenneth Anderson
Just Fascinating! Like watching a train wreck…I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. This documentary put me through at least seven levels of humiliation and shame on behalf of the four profiled "subjects." Not since "The Day of The Locust" have I seen such a painful exploration of the dark underside of pursuing the Hollywood Dream."Confessions of a Superhero" profiles four struggling, wannabe Hollywood actors who work as costumed street performers while they wait for their big break. As an indictment of America's obsession with fame over talent, this documentary should be required viewing for everyone raised in the post-"American Idol" era where it matters less if you study, train, or even have respect for your craft; all that matters is that you have a "dream." First we have Superman. A nice guy to be sure, but creepily delusional, obsessive and downright odd. What charm he may possess as an obviously psychologically and drug damaged soul is mitigated by his living in a virtual fantasy world 24 / 7. This is no judgment, because Lord knows, he should be applauded for channeling his mental illness into such a harmless outlet. But a fleeting resemblance to Christopher Reeve has been blown up out of all proportion to the extent that the film is actually wince-inducing whenever we see him interacting with real people (that is, anyone who exists outside of the world he inhabits inside his head) or hear of his hopes of making it as leading man. Were this fellow working in something like an office, someone certainly would have suggested psychiatric help long ago (don't even get me started on his inamorata). Unfortunately, the allure of the Hollywood dream machine is such that wacko fantasies and actual, I-want-to-work hard-to-be-a-good-actor-not-necessarily-a-star, ambitions all look the same.Next there is Wonder Woman, a small town girl of average beauty and a straight-to-video level of acting talent, whose life reads like a cautionary blueprint for every dreamy-eyed teen who ever starred in a high-school play. She seems sweet and sane (one of the few) but is wholly unremarkable and more than a little ordinary. Your heart aches when, as she describes her youth, it becomes painfully obvious why she clung to dreams to survive.Equally touching is The Hulk, an average type of guy who really seems like he "gets it" and doesn't think his sidewalk panhandling is a way of being discovered by producers and directors. But he too is following a dream attached to making it big rather than a dream of actually being good at something first. It's a recurring motif in this film that everybody is married to the idea of luck and chance catapulting them to fame. No one seems too interested in the avant-garde notion that fame may be the result of excelling at their craft and distinguishing themselves through the development of their talent. No, these folks (like many) think that just wanting to be famous is enough of a dream and should be respected. God forbid someone should ask them if they even DESERVE fame. Narcissisism makes its own rules.Lastly, and most entertainingly, is Batman, a character you couldn't make up. A scary, overaged wannabe actor with real anger issues, and signs of being a pathological liar and probable mental case. He is everything that is wrong with wanting to be famous yet not being particularly good at anything. To listen to him INSIST that he looks like George Clooney (if Clooney was a debauched, crazy eyed nutcase) while recounting his dubious history of mob violence is to really dance with the devil by the pale moonlight. "Confessions of a Superhero" is not a deep documentary, but I think, in this age of reality shows and the current public mania to be seen, noticed, appreciated...FAMOUS at any cost, it at least poses the question: Is a dream unsupported by intelligence, aptitude and study, anything but fantasy?
