Defendor (2009)

Director/writer: Peter Stebbings

"There are at least eight ways to break out of this dump. I'm taking the front door."

Defendor is the first film in actor Peter Stebbing's directorial career, and damn what an entrance. Woody Harelson plays Arthur, A high functioning Autistic man who fights crime as Defendor (not defender). He is searching for "captain industry" who sold his mother drugs, and is ultimately responsible for her death. What makes this plot so good is not the actual events, but the fact that they take place in a brutally realistic world. Defendor fights real criminals, and the consequences are real. I'm not going to talk too much about the plot, lest I give it away. But what I will say is that the movie will bring a lump to your throat, not in a sad way but in a simple, child-like heart warming sort of way.

Woody Harelson's performance is instantly likable from the first frame. Arthur is not what North American society is, not even what it could be, but what it claims to be, what it's mythologies are. The study of heroes and superheroes in any given society reveal the kinds of values and aspirations that society holds. Superheroes offer us a vivid black and white sense of right and wrong, and this is often contrasted behind a morally gray and dubious world. But in most cases, the bad and the good are exaggerated, superman is ridiculously good and Lex Luther is just ridiculous evil. What Defendors does then, is to show how hypocritical our ideas about justice and morality are. If all are equal in front of the law, then why is this cop allowed to sexual assault people? And why is Defendor arrested for upholding this law (read morality)? This simple questions lead to complex and troubling answers, as more "mature" and "intelligent" characters struggles to explain them, and in a way keep up with Arthur/Defendor.

The direction isn't in itself, that impressive. The film is really pushed forward by the character, and for that Stebbings deserves much respect as a talented writer. The dialogue has a duality to it as Defendor supplies us with an arsenal of superhero cliches and the villains respond with some realistically confused and amused retorts. Overall, the dialogue makes the film both funny and heartfelt, as Arthur's child-like sense of morality seemingly overpowers us simply by the very simpleness of it. Overall, a very impressive script.