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| Available at Amazon.com |
Everyone chooses their profession for their own reasons. Maybe they love doing it or simply they went through school to learn how to do it. Maybe it isn’t very hard and pays them a lot of money. Perhaps it is rather difficult and also pays them a lot of money, but instead of quitting, they’ll suffer through it because the pay is so good. Others have their jobs because it was all they could get and they need money in the worst way. Sometimes though there are people who do their professions simply because they were made to do it. Even if it means they go outside every single day, stand on the street in spandex or fake muscles, and pose for pictures hoping a tip comes their way.
Down in front of the Mann Chinese Theatre, you are always bound to run into a bevy of celebrities from those dead to those of superhuman strength and everyone in between. Confessions Of A Superhero is a documentary that takes a look at four performers that go out everyday and take pictures and sign autographs hoping to make enough money in tips to make a living. Their main hope is that a talent scout or some director or something will spot them and notice their sheer talent and place them into the starring role of a new feature film. Most of those you see can just keep on dreaming.
The first person we meet is Christopher Dennis who portrays the role of Superman. He also has an uncanny resemblance to the late Christopher Reeve. An anorexic Christopher Reeve, but still. Dennis is a struggling actor that believes he will make it big someday. He has had bit parts in numerous films and some commercials, but it is only a matter of time before his true greatness is discovered and he is a star. Dennis says that he is the son of the late actress Sandy Dennis, but some of Sandy’s family doesn’t even think she ever had a son. It’s rather difficult to really decipher what is truth here and what isn’t, but the longer you watch, the less you believe anything Christopher Dennis says. For instance, he tells one story where he was seventeen years old and his mother Sandy wanted him to go into acting but he wanted to do an “exciting job,” so he became a landscaper(?). Then later on he says at seventeen his father was already long gone and he had long been in and out of foster homes. Well, which is it?
His obsession with Superman is also a bit much. I understand living the role and all that, but geez man. And I thought my love for the man of steel was bad.
Maxwell Allen is up next and he is Batman so to speak. He looks like George Clooney except with a bigger nose, much older, and a huge gap in his teeth. Allen not only has serious anger issues, but is also a pathological liar. His wife even says so. He goes on and on about being a black belt and knowing all these different martial art techniques yet he can’t even turn the right ways in class. Allen tells his psychiatrist about his past and how he has killed numerous people because the rage got to him and it just needed to be done. How can I take him seriously when he actually went to the psychiatrist in full Batman gear? The guy is way too much of a crackhead and a drunk, and you’ll be annoyed with him very fast.
Thirdly there is Jennifer Gerht who stars on the streets as Wonder Woman. She grew up right outside of Knoxville, Tennessee and wanted more out of her boring life so she moved to Los Angeles. Her religious family wasn’t too accepting of that even though her mother says otherwise. Watch her mom’s facial expressions during the story; you know damn well there was a lot of fighting going on. Jennifer seems to get a good number of auditions and is quite attractive, but her acting ability just isn’t up to par. Hopefully though she can make it someday.
Last but not least is my favorite Joe McQueen who is the Incredible Hulk. He seems to get the least amount of time on screen yet he is the one I took to the most in this film. Joe’s heart wrenching story of coming from the South and being homeless in Los Angeles for four years just really got to me. As time went on, he became a street performer and keeps trying to make it in films. Joe is not like the other three in this feature as he seems to grasp reality a lot more then they do. He realizes that he is simply begging for money on the streets while he tries to further his acting career on his own. The others feel that dressing up as superheroes will really help them make it. Sad.
Confessions Of A Superhero is a unique look at some determined, pathetic, sad, hopeful, talented, and just downright stupid people. Dennis is just friggin annoying and really…sad. It hurts me in embarrassing ways watching him and thinking he has some kind of odd connection with Christopher Reeve because they look alike. Allen is just a total ass that couldn’t tell the truth if someone gave him a script to read. Gerht is cute and has a good head on her shoulders, but she made some very rash decisions when younger and is still working through them. McQueen is determined and I sincerely hope he makes it really big someday. This documentary may be aggravating and frustrating at times, but it gives a good look at how tough it is to make it in Hollywood. No matter what your personality may be.
Also, if you can explain to me the point of Morgan Spurlock being in this for the first minute and a half to simply introduce it, then please do.
Down in front of the Mann Chinese Theatre, you are always bound to run into a bevy of celebrities from those dead to those of superhuman strength and everyone in between. Confessions Of A Superhero is a documentary that takes a look at four performers that go out everyday and take pictures and sign autographs hoping to make enough money in tips to make a living. Their main hope is that a talent scout or some director or something will spot them and notice their sheer talent and place them into the starring role of a new feature film. Most of those you see can just keep on dreaming.
The first person we meet is Christopher Dennis who portrays the role of Superman. He also has an uncanny resemblance to the late Christopher Reeve. An anorexic Christopher Reeve, but still. Dennis is a struggling actor that believes he will make it big someday. He has had bit parts in numerous films and some commercials, but it is only a matter of time before his true greatness is discovered and he is a star. Dennis says that he is the son of the late actress Sandy Dennis, but some of Sandy’s family doesn’t even think she ever had a son. It’s rather difficult to really decipher what is truth here and what isn’t, but the longer you watch, the less you believe anything Christopher Dennis says. For instance, he tells one story where he was seventeen years old and his mother Sandy wanted him to go into acting but he wanted to do an “exciting job,” so he became a landscaper(?). Then later on he says at seventeen his father was already long gone and he had long been in and out of foster homes. Well, which is it?
His obsession with Superman is also a bit much. I understand living the role and all that, but geez man. And I thought my love for the man of steel was bad.
Maxwell Allen is up next and he is Batman so to speak. He looks like George Clooney except with a bigger nose, much older, and a huge gap in his teeth. Allen not only has serious anger issues, but is also a pathological liar. His wife even says so. He goes on and on about being a black belt and knowing all these different martial art techniques yet he can’t even turn the right ways in class. Allen tells his psychiatrist about his past and how he has killed numerous people because the rage got to him and it just needed to be done. How can I take him seriously when he actually went to the psychiatrist in full Batman gear? The guy is way too much of a crackhead and a drunk, and you’ll be annoyed with him very fast.
Thirdly there is Jennifer Gerht who stars on the streets as Wonder Woman. She grew up right outside of Knoxville, Tennessee and wanted more out of her boring life so she moved to Los Angeles. Her religious family wasn’t too accepting of that even though her mother says otherwise. Watch her mom’s facial expressions during the story; you know damn well there was a lot of fighting going on. Jennifer seems to get a good number of auditions and is quite attractive, but her acting ability just isn’t up to par. Hopefully though she can make it someday.
Last but not least is my favorite Joe McQueen who is the Incredible Hulk. He seems to get the least amount of time on screen yet he is the one I took to the most in this film. Joe’s heart wrenching story of coming from the South and being homeless in Los Angeles for four years just really got to me. As time went on, he became a street performer and keeps trying to make it in films. Joe is not like the other three in this feature as he seems to grasp reality a lot more then they do. He realizes that he is simply begging for money on the streets while he tries to further his acting career on his own. The others feel that dressing up as superheroes will really help them make it. Sad.
Confessions Of A Superhero is a unique look at some determined, pathetic, sad, hopeful, talented, and just downright stupid people. Dennis is just friggin annoying and really…sad. It hurts me in embarrassing ways watching him and thinking he has some kind of odd connection with Christopher Reeve because they look alike. Allen is just a total ass that couldn’t tell the truth if someone gave him a script to read. Gerht is cute and has a good head on her shoulders, but she made some very rash decisions when younger and is still working through them. McQueen is determined and I sincerely hope he makes it really big someday. This documentary may be aggravating and frustrating at times, but it gives a good look at how tough it is to make it in Hollywood. No matter what your personality may be.
Also, if you can explain to me the point of Morgan Spurlock being in this for the first minute and a half to simply introduce it, then please do.
The film is shown in 1.781 Anamorphic Widescreen format and looks good. It has that documentary feel and look to it as it should. Colors are bright and the image is clear with no problems.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and it sounds incredibly well for being a documentary filmed right there on the streets of Hollywood. All dialogue is clear and loud enough to always be heard. Sadly though, the audio is horrible on the special features getting louder and then incredibly softer randomly.
Audio Commentary – Commentary is done by Christopher Dennis (Superman) and his wife Bonnie. The only thing good I can honestly say about this is that I didn’t have to see Bonnie’s facial twitches the whole time. The bad thing is that I had to hear both her and Christopher talk still. All he does is whine and whine and it would be so nice to simply punch him in his “steel” chest and hope he loses all his air for at least five minutes and can’t get a word out. Good luck getting through this film a second time listening to them.
Additional Scenes – A handful of extra scenes are thrown in and focus on Batman and Superman. One has Dennis and Bonnie talking about how they met and their first time having sex. Yikes. There’s another of Batman at the Comic Con meeting a porn star and getting a little too excited. Nothing much here. Seeing Dennis in a few other scenes get way too excited about Antonio Banderas and John Schneider from Dukes Of Hazzard though is simply pathetic.
Interviews – One interview lasting just under thirteen minutes has Superman and director Matthew Ogens discussing the film. Nothing much. The second interview is a radio interview with only audio. It has Batman calling into the studio where Supes, Hulk, and Ogens are sitting and discussing things. One topic discussed is Superman and Hulk saying Batman (Maxwell Allen) is hard to work with, but of course Allen denies that it’s true.
Superhero Slideshow – A minute and seventeen seconds of still frames. Meh.
Theatrical Trailer
Trailers – Chalk and Plasterhead
There were some really high hopes for this DVD when it arrived in my mail, but those were quickly dashed. If there had been three times more footage and information on Jennifer Gerht and especially Joe McQueen, then the score would have been considerably higher. But after seeing so much of Maxwell Allen and Christopher Dennis, I wanted to literally throw the DVD out my window. They’re both so trite and just so tremendously retarded that they don’t even make good human beings let alone superheroes. It almost pains me to see Dennis disrespecting Superman’s suit by having it on his eighty-eight pound frame. I highly recommend checking out the documentary at least once though even if it may cause some headaches and aggravation. The look at the lives of these people is just very cool and something no-one should miss. The special features are rather blah and I doubt you’d want to see Confessions Of A Superhero more then once so go with a definite rental here.
Word of advice too…if you’re ever in Hollywood and see Batman on the street? Tip him because he will “kill” you. Ha ha…sorry, couldn’t resist. No seriously, give the man some money. He’s crazy.
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Arts Alliance America presents Confessions Of A Superhero. Directed by Matthew Ogens. Starring Maxwell Allen, Christopher Dennis, Jennifer Gerht, and Joseph McQueen. Running time: 92 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: January 22, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Danny Cox
