Caped, er, raincoated crusader: Ryan Kwanten in Griff the Invisible.

Perceiving a kindred soul, Melody labors to become Griff's unwanted sidekick and co-conspirator.

Actor turned writer-director Leon Ford's first feature is professionally executed but not very special, let alone super, in ideas or action. It doesn't really have a perspective on superherodom — at least none you haven't seen before — or mental illness, or even on which condition our protagonists truly suffer from. (The ending kinda fudges the question.) It aims for Sweet and Charming, lands at Sorta Kinda.

The routine bombast of regular superhero movies has been overexposed, but as an alternative flavor so has a certain creepy indie seriocomedy cuteness. Just recently we've had the fey, overly pettable likes of Beginners (2010) and The Future, with Gus Van Sant's even more cloying Restless up next. Griff the Invisible is less irksome for having less overbearing "personality." But it's still just another self-consciously quirky romance between contrived misfits that congratulates the audience for enjoying a plate of nutmeg chervil Hollandaise sauce rather than the usual overcooked hamburger. Either way, you're going to wish you'd ordered something else.

GRIFF THE INVISIBLE opens Fri/19 in Bay Area theaters.