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Disturbing yet enthralling

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

If you're a comic book geek (like I am), you might find Sidekick interesting but utterly unsurprising. If you're not a comic geek, you might find the story unusual but not that interesting.Norman (Perry Mucci) is a comic book geek. He doesn't live in his mother's basement, but he's not that far up the ladder from there. He lives in a crappy apartment, his bed surrounded by boxes of comics. He works as the IT at an investment firm, where he has a secret crush on the moderately hot receptionist named Andrea (Mackenzie Lush, which is one of the great names). He hangs around at his comic shop and talks to the owner, Chuck (Daniel Baldwin), about what sort of super-powers they'd like to have. He's a pretty small guy in a pretty small world, until he discovers that one of the top traders at the investment firm, Victor (David Ingram), actually has super-powers. Reacting to that as only a grown man who surrounds his bed with boxes of comics would, Norman decides to train Victor in how to use his powers, even though Victor is not at all keen on the idea. With the encouragement of Chuck, who thinks Norman is writing his own comic book, Norman casts himself as Victor's mentor. He has Victor practice with his powers until he really can do some amazing things, dreaming all the while of Victor donning a costume and inviting Norman to help him battle the forces of evil. But while Victor's got the super thing down, there's nothing at all heroic about him. Something Norman is eventually forced to realize and tries to prevent Victor from rewriting his secret origin and becoming a super-villain.If super-hero comics are wish fulfillment power fantasies for young boys, Sidekick is a wish fulfillment power fantasy for grown men who read super-hero comics meant for young boys. Norman is meant to be what every comic geek would be if he discovered that someone in his office could move things with his mind. A nd while the story takes a while to get going, it is sort of fun to watch Norman cast himself as a real life Professor X. But once you get past that initial appeal, there's nothing else here for the comic geek. To a super-hero fan, this story is terminally predictable. There's no moment when it doesn't do exactly what a comic geek would expect, even when twisting the plot in a different direction would make more sense. The story also unfolds as though it were written in 1975 or something. To any comic fan who's read Watchmen or Astro City or any of the umpteen other postmodern/deconstructionist works, Sidekick's take on real super-heroes will seem awfully shallow and simplistic.If you're not a huge comic geek, though, and haven't already read "realistic" super-hero stories a thousand times already, this might seem like something a little new and quirky. But if you don't have a feel-good identification with Norman, you'll probably notice that the movie doesn't have a lot of humor or action or tension or drama or anything else. Like an inside joke you had to have been there to appreciate, non-comic geeks will be left wondering why the movie seems to be missing so much.That "missing" feeling encapsulates what's wrong with the character of Norman. Other than being a comic geek with an unrequited crush, we never learn anything else about him. The story never bothers to tell or show us why Norman is the way he is or why we should care. The movie does far more to give depth to Victor, but treats him as a minor, supporting character for the most part. Heck, we're even given greater insight into Andrea as a woman trapped in a sexist corporate world than we are into Norman.This film doesn't insult or belittle or mock comic geeks. It doesn't even have much of the self-loathing that many comic geeks possess. But it's trying to tell a story that's already been told very well many times before and isn't bringing anything new or different to the formula. I f you're a comic geek who hasn't read Watchmen or the novel Superfolks, Sidekick might be a good warm up for those works. Otherwise, you'll likely find it slightly engaging but extremely remedial.

You know I admit that when I was a kid I wanted to become a superhero. One day, I'd wake up to realize that I had superpowers and I'd be called on missions to save the world or damsels in distress.I suppose for someone like Norman Neale, a nerdy computer technician living in the shadow of the "real men" in his office, the best he could do was to become a sidekick. Working in a competitive investment firm in Toronto, Norman discovers his co-worker Victor has the power to move objects from a distance. This discovery gives Norman's life new meaning as he sets out to train Victor to become "Victory Man" and prowl the city streets of Toronto to fight crime.The only problem is that Norman's fantasy-come-true forces him to deal with the cold, hard facts of real life: sometimes super strength doesn't equal superhero.I loved Perry Mucci's performance. It's worth renting just to watch him play the nerdy child-like guy who still gets bullied on the streets of Toronto or falls madly in love with the receptionist at work. I didn't know if I should feel sorry for Norman or just plain pray real hard for him.However, that being said, David Ingram and Perry Mucci played a great "odd couple" performance. It was fun to watch the nerdy comic-book guy train the dumb jock who considered his greatest asset in life not to be his superpowers, but rather his ability to screw as many women while on his way up the corporate ladder. The training sequences are hilarious as we watch poor Norman take not one but two bottles in the head for the team. Good on you, Norman!Sidekick is a great story; it's fast-paced, full of foreshadowing with comic-book like scenes scattered throughout the film. I'd love to get Baldwin's death-by-choking face in poster format. There are no boring or slow scenes in Sidekick and there were many witty lines of dialogue that belong on bumper stickers or business calendars (see Andrea Hicks dialogue below). The music and soundtrack was amazing on this film and I loved the opening sequence with the title and credits! That must have made Sparaga feel tingly all over when he saw that. Nice touch!I wish there was more of the Andrea character! I sense that the character had a larger role to play in the film, but sadly, remained the young, female receptionist desperately trying to make her way in a man's world. Although her line regarding being forced to pick locks with other guy's dicks is, as far as I am concerned, a work of art, I felt that Andrea could have contributed more to the story.Sidekick is a low-budget film that's high on plot development and great dialogue. Make a sequel Mike!!!

Watchable but nothing special. It reminded me of a sci-fi channel TV movie. Woulda made a mediocre Twighlight Zone or X-files episode.I rate it a 3 because if you spent any money watching it, you might very well feel ripped off.Some people might rate it higher because it's an indie, but I'm an average movie watcher, not a film-school teacher. I rate all movies by one standard.It had a low-budget feel from the start. Camera and sound work were fine, The few small special effects were OK, so I guess it was the acting and directing that made it feel cheap. All the extras looked like acting students who like to stretch their lines out to get more face-time on camera.The Baldwin brother looked like De Niro compared to the other actors, and no that's not a compliment. If you thought the movie "Unbreakable" was the bestest movie ever, then you might like this variation of the same theme.

A brave foray into a genre that traditionally requires big budgets. It is amazing what these folks did on so little. What a great independent film! Strong acting by the leads. Norman really gets you feeling bad for him and for all the people who are stuck in their little worlds with big imaginations and big hearts. Add a nice little twist and voilà! If only more big films showed the same sense of heart. You can relate to these guys. You can empathize with them, stuck in their boring jobs, looking for more, hoping to find it, and then realizing that not everybody cares like you do. A great Canadian film with great images of Toronto! It was excellent to see the effort they made to bring as much of the comic book world into it as they could. I especially like Ken Lashley's cameo. I also think it was great of Danny Baldwin to appear as well. I hope to see more from these talented new comers.