Films: Confessions of a Superhero

Confessions of a Superhero
Reviewer: Wally
Director: Matthew Ogens
Released: 2007
Popcorns: 3.5/5

Chronicles the lives of four mortal men and women who work as characters on the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard.

Ever since I visited Hollywood, when I was about 12, I've always wondered about all the people who stand and pose for photos, dressed as their favourite characters from TV and films.  It fascinated me that these people were stood there all day and didn't realise at the time that it was actually their jobs, or at least a weekend job to get a bit of money on the side.

Confessions of a Superhero focuses upon four of the aforementioned characters, their struggle to make it into show business and how they ended up standing outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.  The four characters are Hulk, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman.
Hulk is played by Joe McQueen, who came to Hollywood so keen to pursue his dream of stardom, that he started out his days there homeless and washing in Macdonalds before his auditions.
Batman is played by Maxwell Allen, who considers himself a George Clooney lookalike, has serious anger issue and seems to be a compulsive liar.
Wonder Woman is played by Jennifer Wenger, who came from a town where she was Queen of everything to chase her dream of being a Hollywood actress.
Finally, Superman is played by Christopher Dennis, who is obsessed with the Man of Steel and has been dressing up as him for the past 15ish years.  He also claims to be the son of Sandy Dennis, although the rest of her family deny this.

Surprisingly, these people are actually making a living out of this and sometimes are earning up to $500 a day from 'donations' from tourists.
The Chinese Theatre frown upon them and do not want to be associated with them at all. The police have no qualms with them, as long as they stick to the rules. The main two rules are that they must not ask for money, but they are allowed to accept donations and they have to stay off private property, which is clearly marked on the pavements outside of the shops.

They finally get some recognition because of an incident between Elmo, Mr. Incredible and some tourists, when Elmo and Mr. Incredible were arrested and a few of the other characters are interviewed for the news.
This leads to a few TV spots on the Jimmy Kimmell show and a rise in popularity and donations for each of them.


This is a really well put together documentary, spliced with some great pictures, that really capture all four of the people's lives and personalities.
It's a great look into the human psyche and is sometimes quite sad to see what people put themselves through to try and achieve fame.  Saying that, each one of the people interviewed for the documentary seem truly happy doing what they're doing and still hold that hope that one day they will get their starring role.