Defendor

Oh my frigging gawd I love this movie. Love it love it love it love it love it. If you don’t love it too, that means that either you’ve never seen it, or you’re worse than Hitler.

Filmed in Hamilton, Defendor stars Woody Harrelson as Arthur Poppington, a mentally challenged man with delusions of being a night time super hero out to take down “Captain Industry” Kat Dennings plays Kat Debrofkowitz, a hooker and crack afficianado who befriends our confused title character and feeds his delusions for the low, low price of $40 a day. Elias Koteas plays crack and blow job enthusiast Chuck Dooney, a man in dire need of a good shave and fighting lessons. Seriously, he gets his ass kicked by Forrest Gump 3 times in the course of this movie. How you going to survive on the streets with skills like that?

By day, Arthur is a beloved, mild mannered road sign holder. He lives in the workshop at the Department of Public Works, reads old pulpy comic books, and works on his mad crime fighting skills. By night, he dons his black turtle neck sweater with the letter D in duct tape across his chest and sets out on a quest to destroy his ultimate villain. The tools of his trade? Two LED flashlights and a webcam hooked up to a portable vhs player, a pouch full of marbles, a jar of angry wasps and a World War 2 era trench club. In times of interrogation, he trots out the lime juice and nutcracker.

The reality of the situation is, Arthur is a hero. Just not the kind he thinks he is. He is a deeply troubled man who bites off way more than he can chew or understand. The more he fails, the more he feels the need to succeed and the delusion grows. He has absolutely no idea what Kat does for a living, and does not comprehend the lengths she will go to for a safe place to sleep and money to feed her addiction. All of the characters in this movie are in pain, have suffered neglect and abuse and feel righteous in their cause.

Woody Harrelson is nothing short of brilliant in this role. He infuses Arthur with humanity, a defined moral code and a sense of purpose that flows from the heart wrenching emotional wounds of his past. Kat Dennings is wonderful as well. As much chaos as her character creates with her lying and manipulation, you can see the goodness Arthur sees and kind of mourn the unrealized potential. For a movie like this to work, you need to empathize with Arthur and want his little whore friend to find redemption.

At various points sweet, funny, dramatic, dark and at all times awesome, Defendor is a must watch, must own, must love movie. If you have kids, it is not family friendly. There is profanity, violence, brief simulated oral copulation and Elias Koteas. At the end of this sentence, please, PLEASE go out and watch this movie.

I rate Defendor 9 out of 10