Review of Defendor (2009)

Hello all! It's Friday, and you know what that means! Friday drama day! Today I will be reviewing "Defendor," starring Woody Harrelson and Kat Dennings.

First of all, let me just say this: "Defendor" is considered a dark comedy. After seeing the movie, all I have to say is: wrong, wrong wrong. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most comedies make you go like this:

Am I right? Right. Well, after seeing Woody Harrelson's performance in "Defendor," you look something more like this:

So, let's be clear: "Defendor" is NOT a comedy, dark or otherwise. This is a full-blown, heartbreaking drama, fraught with danger. "Defendor" is about a mentally challenged man named Arthur Poppington (played by Woody Harrelson) who is convinced that his town needs an every day hero, much like himself. By day he's just plain old Arthur Poppington, but at night he dons his costume and mask and calls himself Defendor. He commits himself to fighting crime and protecting the innocent at any cost.

Pros:

1. Woody Harrelson plays a man who is mentally ill, and does it perfectly. He's immature, naive, has no idea how the real world works, and doesn't realize that he's way in over his head trying to fight violent crimes on the streets. But his disability does not hinder him from going out and bravely fighting criminals. Honestly, I don't know how Harrelson did not get recognition for this role. He was believable, endearing, sweet, and fun to cheer on the whole time, even though from the very beginning you know he's not going to win against big mob bosses.

2. Defendor's badass home weaponry. He uses marbles, jars of angry hornets (my personal favorite) and other home made weapons to aid him in catching criminals.

 3. The story just plain rocks. Poppington is trying to bring a crooked cop to justice and track down his imaginary arch nemesis, "Captain Industry." Aside from the crooked cop, Defendor doesn't really have any enemies in real life, they're ones that he's made up in his mind. The whole time you just want him to win and to bring these people down, but the sad truth that he's mentally handicapped makes it almost impossible for anyone to believe what he says about the crack-smoking, hooker-buying bad guy cop. It's a downer story to begin with, but there's nothing to do but hold out hope for Harrelson's character.

4. I like that it wasn't a flat out comedy. I liked that it was 100% drama the whole time, but it was appropriate. This man is out of his mind, but really thinks that he can make a difference in the world even though he has this incredible handicap holding him back. It's really inspiring to watch someone do something that no one ever does, just for the sake of helping other people out. Life isn't always about being funny, so this super hero movie was refreshing in that respect.

5. It was well cast (except for Kat Dennings' character). Everyone was 100% believable in their role. (Once again, except for Kat Dennings).

Cons:
1. It made me cry like a baby. I won't spoil it for you guys, but it's a definite tear jerker.

2. Kat Dennings plays a crack addict, but doesn't do a terribly good job. Well, not even a good job, really. She was too clean, too naive looking to play an experienced hard drug user. Her mood swings and sudden anger isn't intimidating or scary in any way; it just sounds like she's whining the whole time. People don't usually get more snarky and clever when they get high on hard drugs. Just saying.

Other than those small things, though, it was a solid movie. I liked it a lot, and it's a shame that no one gave Harrelson any recognition for it. It's fairly unknown to most people, so I hope you go out and rent it! If you're a Woody Harrelson fan, it's a must-see. Thanks for reading, guys! Have a great weekend!