Harrelson’s ‘Defendor’ (2009) a rare mentally challenged hero

Defendor

As barriers continue to be broken down in superhero-ing and the world at large, “Defendor” (2009) was ahead of the curve in giving us a mentally challenged superhero. And I know this makes me a rare defender of “Defendor,” but: It’s not half bad.

Obviously hampered by a tight budget and a generic plot, it’s no masterpiece, but writer director Peter Stebbings’ film does serve up a strong performances and nice settings. And its heart is in the right place in showing what might happen if a slightly mentally addled man who lives in an abandoned factory takes up costumed crime-fighting.

Harrelson shines in title role

Woody Harrelson is magnetic as the title character (real name Arthur Poppington), who isn’t challenged to the degree of “Rain Man” or “I Am Sam” but who does give people pause with his black outfit highlighted by a duct-taped “D.” He holds a job as a sign-holder on a construction crew run by his friend Paul (Michael Kelly).

I appreciate that Arthur is socially functional in most ways – a subset of the population not often portrayed in film. Stebbings leans into the funny aspects of a do-it-yourself crimefighter less than “Kick-Ass,” and he isn’t interested in broad social commentary as in “Super.”

Kat Dennings does her effective, almost-bored thing as the conveniently named hooker Kat, and the always-great Elias Koteas plays a corrupt cop who often partakes of Kat’s services; Dooney could be Casey Jones’ evil twin.

Set in an unnamed big and dirty city (it’s filmed in Toronto), “Defendor” is engaging because of the core performances. But I was irked that the comedy never quite arrived. There are sweet moments, like when Arthur doesn’t realize Kat is offering him sexual services.

It could’ve gone bigger

But I have a nagging feeling that “Defendor” needed to go bigger, or have more layers. The similarly themed “Special,” which features an emotionally troubled superhero, gives us something extra with a conspiracy plot. “Defendor” stays in one place too long, although the flash-forwards to Arthur’s sessions with psychiatrist Dr. Park (Sandra Oh) hint at bigger stakes.

The main plot is thin, centering on Defendor’s goal of catching drug/gun/sex-slave kingpin Captain Industry (A.C. Peterson), with the police chief (Clark Johnson) humoring him and Dooney being mildly annoyed. It’s also more confusing than it needs to be.

My impression is that the chief does not know about Dooney’s corruption, but that makes him look dumb, whereas his fair treatment of Defendor makes him look sharp.

The film doesn’t embrace big laughs or tragedy. At one point, Defendor is spying on the cabal with his helmet cam and knocks over a barrier, thus leaving himself exposed. Stebbings passes on the obvious funny image where everyone is frozen and absorbing the situation, instead going right into the pursuit.

An interesting experiment

Similarly, Arthur’s mom was killed by Captain Industry, but we don’t get a flashback that allows us to absorb that tragedy — although Charlotte Sullivan and Max Dreesen are sweet in a scene where Fay Poppington says goodbye to her son before going off on a job for the kingpin.

The score is too generic — I assume this is where costs were kept down – although a tip of the hat goes to Metric’s catchy “Help I’m Alive” over the closing credits.

I see what Stebbings was going for, but with its shortcomings, “Defendor” doesn’t rise above an offbeat, interesting experiment with a stellar lead performance.

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My rating: