Griff the Invisible (2010)

5/10

People see the world through different windows.  Most of us see the everyday stark reality of work, home, and family.  A few people see things a bit more unusually.  On the surface, Griff (Ryan Kwanten) leads an unassuming and mundane life.  He has a job as a shipping liaison in a cramped cubicle, he does not enjoy talking to people, and he seems to hide even when he is walking on the street.  Because of Griff’s social ineptitude, he is a magnet for bullies.  There is a bully at work who singles out Griff for torment and even Griff’s brother Tim (Patrick Brammall) makes Griff feel uncomfortable with his overbearing manner. 

Griff has a secret though.  There is a reason he chooses not to have any friends and only works rote office jobs.  He is a superhero.  At night, he scans the streets with a telescope and a bank of computers from his apartment searching out ruffians intent on harming neighborhood women.  The police commissioner will call him with tips and thanks for a job well done.  To keep his superhero costume in working order and incorporate new technologies, Griff visits a local hardware store and always warns the cashier to forget he was ever there.

Melody (Maeve Dermody) also has a secret.  She realizes that since there is so much space between the atoms in our bodies and the atoms in walls that if she aligns herself just right, she can walk through walls.  She happens across Griff and is mesmerized.  Here is a kindred spirit.  Melody cannot stand the workaday men who fancy her because they see the world as it really is.  Griff, on the other hand, does not see hardly any reality and this strikes Melody as the most wonderful thing she has ever seen.

The story and interactions between aloof Griff and curious Melody work.  They have a special conversational style and truly understand one another.  When they are on screen together, the film works.  Unfortunately, when they are apart and it is just Griff and his superhero activities, the film is a complete mess.  Griff is really not a very interesting character when it is just him in his apartment trying out new superhero ideas.  Melody is the character the audience cares about and wants to watch, so whenever she is off screen, you spend that time just waiting for her to reappear.