Special

It's happened to all of us. We sit down to watch a movie, not sure how it's going to turn out but are willing to give it a chance. Slow at first, the warm fuzzy feeling comes over you. You empathize with the characters. They win you over with their charm, their ingenuity, their spunk. Next, you find your eyes glued to the screen, entranced by what's transpiring, afraid that if you avert your gaze for even a moment the whole illusion will fall apart. Then, the giddy feeling creeps into your system as you realize you're watching something special. On the verge of branding this the best movie ever, it happens: that special moment.

My recent experience with the movie Special surfaced this phenomenon. That slow sucking sound was the movie drawing me in with it's intricate, original plot and sweet, likable lead (Michael Rapaport in a great role). Oh how that feeling grew. I was about to declare this movie a rousing success, then the chopstick happened: the special moment. Poof, the feeling was gone and the movie quickly spun out of control and into the pit of "could have beens."

Some movies just have that point where it all goes so horribly, inexplicably wrong. The potential ending plot twist that drains promise into the toilet of despair. The rest of the movie is spent in my head either trying to salvage any vestiges of the plot points that make sense or imagining the possibilities of what could have been. There's so much left undone by those possibilities, that something better. The disappointment for these films is so much greater when you're left with the feeling that those wrong turns didn't have to be there. That the writer could have chosen a clearer, cleaner path to success. Alas, it was not to be, and failure leaves that bitter taste.

Special was that movie for me, like Event Horizon or No Country for Old Men before it. Each had me in its spell right before the collapse of all reason and departure from logic. Before I'm crucified for my convictions on these popular movies (and believe me, these are well loved by some), think about those movies that disappointed you because of the promise they held but didn't uphold. This list will be different for everyone, but there will be some on that list.