Late Review: Fanboys

The best movie I watched these last few days was not at the movies, or on DVD. It was on my laptop, as I downloaded Fanboys from a rental site.

This movie is already on DVD, and unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to see it at the theaters, since many indie, low budget and foreign films do not make to the movie screens in South Florida as family films have priority to the silver screens.

Synopsis

Its late 1998. Linus, Erick, Windows, Hutch and Zoe, five childhood friends, are reunited at a party. They've always shared one thing in common: Their passion for all things Star Wars. They are eagerly counting down the hours until Star Wars: The Phantom Menace arrives in theaters for the summer of 1999. When they learn that one of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer, they create a plot to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of the new Star Wars film and make their friend's dream come true before his passing.

Comments

This movie is hillarious, raunchy and even sweet. Comedy overshadows the predicament of Linus (Christopher Marquette), who is dying of cancer. Before this movie was released, I read in Mania.com, that at one point, there was another version, where the cancer subplot was omitted, in order to make the movie funnier. But the theme of Linus' illness prevailed in the final cut. George Lucas loved the movie, gave his "Stamp of Approval" and authorized sounds from the original Star Wars trilogy to be sampled for Fanboys.

The situations are hillarious as our heroes drive from Ohio to San Francisco, with a scheduled stop to meet Window's(Jay Baruchel) online love interest, who promises to provide the crew with Skywalker Ranch's blueprints and passwords to help them break in, ultimately, this does not turn out well, but they still earn the right to meet a mistery guy, who will provide them with the needed items to enter Lucas' ranch. Through out their trip, our heroes get out of their way to pick on a bunch of Trekkies led by a guy played Seth Rogen(under a fake nose and buck teeth), who later chase them cross country, in thirst for vengeance. Cameos from Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher and even William Shatner, are featured.

This movie is a love letter to Star Wars, and how it has affected the lives of so many Genxers. The motivation for the four protagonists is not really to be the first to watch the upcoming Star Wars Film, but give their friend, who is set to pass away before the film' premiere, the excitement and euphoria that many Genxers like myself, felt as May 1999 approached, when we would finally see the most awaited film in history. Weather The Phantom Menace, and its sucessors was loved or hated, the anticipation felt during the weeks, days and hours before the arrival of this film was one of the most memorable experiences all Star Wars fans have had in their life time. This film clearly captures and even sort of brings back that feeling of excitement.

I loved this film despite the critics, which were mostly negative. Fanboys ranks at about 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you have not seen it, it is worth checking Fanboys out, even if you don't like Star Wars, as the universal theme of friendship and sacrifice is still resounding.