Superman - Confessions of a Superhero

STARS: CHRISTOPHER LOYD DENNIS, MAXIMUS BATMAN ALAN, JENNIFER GARRETT, AND JOE MCQUEEN AS THE HULK

DIRECTED BY: MATT OGENS

Released: 2007

Run Time: 92mins

< MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD>

Well you can see the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard, in this documentary filmmaker Matt Ogens, walks us down the streets of (Hollywood and Highland) as we follow the personal lives of four superhero impersonators (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Hulk). The film travels along as they make a living off tips, taking photos with the tourists outside of Graumanns Chinese and Kodak Theaters.

The star of this film is undoubtedly Christopher Dennis, he plays SUPERMAN and has the street cred that makes the other impersonators look up to him. The film goes into his personal life as we get a look at the inside of his (Superman Shrine) apartment. If you look closely you can see some strange stuff in there. Eh’ Hemp’. We also discover why he’s decided to become an actor, as he only does the Superman gig during his time off. “Eh’ hmm yeah right.” We also meet his wife as she travels with him to the Superman Expo in Metropolis, Illinois. The journey is quite touching as Dennis is a person that obviously has some personal issues and they are touched upon, however the film never openly mocks him or his obsession with Superman.

The documentary also covers the story of Maximus Alan, who’s a dead ringer for George Clooney. As a struggling actor Max, befriended Dennis, and because he looks like George Clooney decided to become the BATMAN version of him. The film really explores Max in a way that I found surprising, as he’s a guy that has violent mood swings. These sometimes get Max into trouble out on the street, and with the law.

(WONDER WOMAN) Jennifer Garrett’s story is the classic small town girl comes to Hollywood to find fortune and fame. Her story is rather sad as you follow her along to auditions trying to get real acting work. Her story I felt was the most touching of the four, that’s all I will say about her story.

Another similar story is the way that Joe Mc Queen (HULK), ended up in Hollywood, as he has a hard time dealing with what he calls, “pan handling for chump change, taking pictures with tourists.” I actually met Joe about a month ago in a Hollywood CVS Drug Store parking lot. He was walking home in the Hulk costume and just looking at him I felt so bad for this guy. It was at least 90 degrees and it must have been 130 in all that foam he was wrapped in. We exchanged hello’s, as I wondered how this guy does what he does everyday. It was real interesting to see he was a major part of this film.

The film is quite moving as the cameras are rolling. The documentary starts to naturally uncover four distinct compelling story arcs. As Max starts to go into therapy for his anger problems, and Joe lands a his first movie role you realise that these are real people struggling to find a direction in life. The stories are sad, real, moving and in a way capture the timeless allure that Hollywood has over people that want to become stars!

This documentary is filmed in widescreen, and has a very impressive surreal soundtrack. The editing is extremely well done, and the story’s are touching. I wouldn’t recommend this film as a comedy, its more of a story of real humans caught in a very special time of their lives. A classic independent documentary if I’ve ever seen one.

The Dvd includes a commentary with Superman and his wife. 6 additional scenes including “ComicCon” footage, an in depth interview with the director Matt Ogens, a Radio interview, a superhero photo slide show, and the theatrical trailer. I was bummed as the subtitles are only in Spanish, as I often use them to write reviews. Damn!