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      Special People

      2007 1h 20m Drama List
      89% Tomatometer 9 Reviews Jasper gets more than he bargains for when he teaches a class of students in wheelchairs. Read More Read Less
      Special People

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      Critics Consensus

      Low budget British comedy which is sharply written and nicely acted whilst confounding disability misconceptions and prejudices on the way.

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      Critics Reviews

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      Kevin Maher Times (UK) Ironically, he's exactly like Special People itself, which is trying so hard to say something profound about disability that it has forgotten to be a drama in the first place. Rated: 1/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Xan Brooks Guardian At times Special People feels hobbled by the very political correctness it wants to poke fun at; still, it's nicely observed and crisply played, gently confounding a gaggle of prejudices during the course of a svelte 81-minute run. Rated: 3/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review David Gritten Daily Telegraph (UK) Well-meant but gruel-thin British comedy in which a failed film-maker helps wheelchair-bound teenagers to make a movie. Rated: 3/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Amber Wilkinson Eye for Film By keeping the central theme simple, Edgar and his team are free to explore the nature of the relationships and the characters in the classroom alongside bigger themes such as attitudes to disability from within the community and without. Rated: 4/5 Jul 4, 2009 Full Review Stella Papamichael Film4 Edgar gets a gold star for this cheeky send-up of the champagne socialists who make miserable films about (supposedly) miserable people. Rated: 4/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Tim Evans Sky Cinema There's a refreshing lack of political correctness about Justin Edgar's budget comedy - it's an unflinching portrayal of the disabled as fully-functioning - and sometimes quite appalling - human beings and a droll challenge to lazy preconceptions. Rated: 3/5 Nov 21, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Justin Edgar`s `Special PeopleÕ with Dominic Coleman and David Proud + Robyn Frampton and Sasha Hardway -- - The not quite ineffective Jasper(Dominic Coleman) is assigned a group of the very physically disabled and he tells them that theyÕre going to make a film. They take the piss but he then says he won a prize at the Warsaw Film festival, which impresses them even more! Now joined by another girl - theyÕre all wheel chair bound - he eventually gets them to show interest but they are more concerned about his love life. But their filming does begin. - ÔSpecial PeopleÕ, UK, 16mm, 80mins, was written and directed by Justin Edgar and produced by Alex Usborne (and the executive producers were Ray Seymour, Alastair Blacklaws, Mark Burgess, Andrew McNamara and Malcolm Cradock). This very sweet and endearing film came out of the same named short shown at the EIFF 2005 - that I saw and wrote - - ÒLucky third was -'Special people', Digibeta, 12mins, directed by Justin Edgar - teacher with a bunch of severely disabled kids trying to make a film. Brilliant sound and pictures, this film made me laugh a lot. phone 020 7688 0864.Ó - It is so unusual to succeed in expanding a story but it has worked here and because the actors are very disabled (and I refuse to spoil the story by correcting ther untruth here) it is so very heartening. So the film is fiction but there are moments of high emotion when really it has gone to documentary mode - the DOP is Zac Nicholson and I suspect there were wet eyes in the audience in at least 3 places, and there are examples of pretty good photography too. Kim Humphrey, who did the music, will go far, prferably not wheelchair bound! - The budget was 185,000uk which seems a bargain - and this flick is also in the running for the Michael Powell Award. For pure effort it is deserved (and the exec producers, who normally get no plaudits, have earned their praises here. alex@picturepalacenorth.com simon Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member great film heart warming yet stimulating Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Jasper gets more than he bargains for when he teaches a class of students in wheelchairs.
      Director
      Justin Edgar
      Producer
      Alistair Blacklaws, Mark Burgess, Malcolm Craddock, Andy McNamara
      Screenwriter
      Justin Edgar
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 20m