Confessions of a Superhero (2007)

Submitted by corwin on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:25pm

Documentaries are not normally my thing when I pick out movies. I guess while I often prefer realism in my entertainment, outright reality doesn't often do it for me. Considering the number of documentaries there are on topics that interest me, I should probably watch more of them, but there it is. That being said, when I saw Confessions of a Superhero listed in Netflix, I was intrigued. It follows the lives of people who dress up as comic book superheroes and work the streets of Hollywood getting their pictures taken with tourists for tips. So when I finally got back on the ball providing entertainment for my Saturdays with Dustin and Jessika last weekend, I made sure to bring that one along, and it proved to be a hit.

The movie focuses on four people.

Christopher Dennis the oldest, having played Superman for some 13 years. He was born to Hollywood, the son of actress Sandy Dennis, and bears a striking resemblance to the late Christopher Reeves. He comes across as a genuinely good guy, a little strange given the enormous collection of Superman memorabilia in his tiny apartment, but very polite and respectful of the tourists. He is seen more than once berating other street actors for requesting or even demanding tips: "Tipping is not mandatory," he keeps saying. He really seems to enjoy what he does, but he also takes it very seriously. At one point, he has taken a young Ghostrider under his wing, and is telling him to stay in character every second he is in costume and in public. He doesn't hide the how hard, and often unrewarding, the job is, but he seems to regard it as his calling.

Maxwell (or Maximus) Allen, a George Clooney look-alike who plays Batman, is a whole different breed. He's abrasive, temperamental, and seems to be a pathological liar. He claims to have received Special Forces training, have multiple blackbelts, to be an expert marksman, and to have spent time working for the Mob in Texas. I believed he was from Texas; his accent sounded authentic to me, and I lived there for a good many years myself. He had little evidence for the rest. Footage of him in a martial arts class made him look somewhat inept compared to his classmates. His shooting, while better than mine would be, was nothing special. Mostly he came across as an arrogant bully with a sense of entitlement when it came to the tips for his work as a Batman impersonator. He wound up getting arrested for being too aggressive with the tourists and starting some kind of altercation on the street.

Jennifer Gehrt, who played Wonder Woman represented the archetypal story of a young actress from the America Midwest who traveled to Hollywood with dreams of making it big. When she decided to drop out of college and pursue her acting career, her mother was extremely supportive and helped get her out to California, but we could tell her father didn't think it was such a hot idea. Working as Wonder Woman on the street is definitely more interesting than waiting tables, though, and she showed the most raw acting talent of any of the principals. She wound up marrying a guy she'd only known for a short while, traveling to Las Vegas on the spur of the moment one weekend with him, but (as is often the case) things didn't work out and she had to move in with one of her friends. Still, that showed she was still able to take control of her own destiny, rather than waste away in a failing marriage, and she kept right on working hard on auditions. I definitely hope she is able to land some good parts in the future.

The real success story of the documentary was Joe McQueen, who dresses as The Hulk. Not long before, he was homeless, living in an alley behind some shops, and literally carrying all of his worldly possessions with him when he went to auditions. It was nearly impossible, not being able to really clean up and having no place to receive call-backs, and got to the lowest point when he was actually laughed at for coming to one audition. He persevered, though, and by the time the film started he had a small, but clean apartment, his Hulk suit, and a few furnishings, and even a couple of Hulk action figures. His gig had to be the absolute worst, with the sweltering temperatures inside that outfit, but he never complained, not even when he actually blacked out at a cafe. He is the only one we saw land a movie role during the film as well, as the villain's sidekick in Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee. He was another truly decent guy, and we were overjoyed to see his career going places.

To top it all off, the documentary crew included one absolutely phenomenal still photographer. Periodically, they would show a series of still photos between scenes with the various actors, and there was several utterly amazing shots with the same consistent style. They all showed a fantastic eye for color and lighting and subject and really went beyond most of the photography I'm used to seeing. I would definitely buy a book of his or her photos from the film if such a thing were available.

While I'm not entirely certain the Boll Scale should apply to documentaries as it does to other movies, I'm going to go ahead and put this one well into the negative Bolls with -0.7. I really enjoyed watching it, and it made me genuinely care about most of the actors.