A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a pair of writers, Ernest Cline & Adam F. Goldberg, wrote a script called Fanboys. The screenplay was snatched up by Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Productions and the Weinstein Company. The film was scheduled for release in 2007, but in a rare move, the Weinsteins gave the filmmakers more money to shoot additional scenes. Internet circles were abuzz, but reshoots were delayed until all cast members were available. Even then, original director Kyle Newman was unavailable and reshoots were taken over by Steven Brill (Drillbit Taylor) whose lack of Star Wars knowledge and profanity laced emails (in response to fan attacks) won him no popularity contests. Harvey Weinstein stepped in, looking to excise a cancer storyline in favor of more nudity and crude humor which prompted fans to start a ‘Stop Darth Weinstein’ petition. The film was finally released in an extremely limited run at the beginning of 2009 before being dumped to DVD this May.
So, was it worth the wait? This fanboy says, ‘no.’
Fanboys stars a core group of four friends; Eric (Sam Huntington), Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), and Windows (Jay Baruchel). All of them diehard Star Wars fans eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming of Episode I. Eric was once best friends with Linus before drifting apart after ditching their dream of becoming comic book creators for a safe job at his dad’s car dealership. Eric returns to the fold when he’s informed that Linus has cancer. The quartet make a pact to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a print of Phantom Menace for Linus to see before its too late. From there, the movie becomes a standard road trip film as the boys get into all sorts of misadventures such as a brawl with Star Trek fans, taking peyote in the desert with Danny Trejo, and meeting an angry Harry Knowles (Ethan Suplee) in Austin, Texas. Along the way, the film is littered with cameos from Star Wars personalities such as Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, and Ray Park as well as Kevin Smith (who was the second choice to play Knowles after Lost star Jorge Garcia) and Apatow players Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson.
Fanboys acts as both an homage and send-up of obsessive geek culture. It takes a few jabs at the exceedingly high expectations that fans had for the new Star Wars films without actually commentating on its quality. Much like Phantom Menace, there was a lot of anticipation for Fanboys so it’s a shame that the humor is so unoriginal. Gags include characters arguing over incestuous feelings between Luke & Leia and a Trekkie (sorry, Trekker) angering our heroes by calling Han Solo a ‘bitch.’ I wasn’t expecting any deep insights into the thought processes of the average nerd, but I was expecting some inventiveness in the jokes. Fanboys won’t be very accessible to anybody who hasn't memorized every line from the trilogy.
Those of you familiar with Jay Baruchel’s gawky beanpole act in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder will get more of the same. He provides some of the film’s most amusing moments including a funny Willow reference. Kristen Bell also shows some sparks as the token female of the group. Meanwhile, Dan Fogler sucks the life out of nearly every scene he’s in with his Jack Black-lite act.
Rating: **
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