Rent Griff the Invisible (2011)

Griff the Invisible review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso

Griff is an Australian office worker with a secret superhero/vigilante alter ego; yet unlike his successful American counterparts Batman and Spiderman, Griff lacks a rather vital ingredient in his superhero soup: talent.

For what we assume to be years, Griff has been attempting to develop his own suit of invisibility; but time and time again he comes up with nothing. His brother Tim begins dating a young artist/experimentalist named Melody, who he introduces to Griff and who is inexplicably drawn to him, largely because of his determined desire to become a superhero.

Much to Tim’s chagrin Melody leaves him for his brother, attempting to become more involved in the secret – and completely fictional – aspect of his life. Melody encourages Griff to further develop his alter ego and even aids him in “successfully” completing his invisibility suit; though not openly depicted as malicious Melody’s actions ultimately lead to Griff becoming further submerged in his fantasy.

This is a fairly sad little movie, neither a movie of a would-be-superhero nor a romance; it is instead, much like Melody, an experimental piece of art. Unfortunately both its characters and plot lacks the spark to be genuinely intriguing and Griff the Invisible is ultimately rather bland and disappointing. It is a movie that does not know what genre it wants to be and so has a half-hearted stab at several, it indulges too much in the liquor of the quirky indie movie and misses out on the sobering effect of any likeable characters; leaving it as more of a 90 minute plot than an engaging story.