Defendor: [DVD] [2010] by Woody Harrelson

At first glance, Defendor might look like a slapstick comedy or a low-budget superhero movie, but its DNA lies more with Taxi Driver (though it's considerably gentler in tone than Martin Scorsese's classic). Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland) just wants to make the world a better place; unfortunately, he's a bit dim and has delusions of grandeur that lead him to skulk around the urban jungle in a black turtleneck with a duct-taped D on his chest. His floundering but relentless efforts to bring down a drug-dealing pimp and a crooked undercover cop (Elias Koteas, The Adjuster) earn him the respect of a teen prostitute (Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) and the psychiatrist (Sandra Oh, Sideways) assigned by the court to do a psychiatric evaluation--but that may not be enough to keep him alive when confronted with real danger. The key to Defendor is that, though the plot may be implausible, it's grounded in realistic and well-drawn characters. The excellent cast (also featuring Michael Kelly, whose face will be familiar from many a supporting role) plays everything vividly real, which keeps Arthur's struggle compelling. Defendor is a surprisingly sincere and complex movie, worth watching whether you're a fan of superheroes or not. --Bret Fetzer