"FANBOYS": A Nerdtastic Geekfest.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

A long time ago in a city far, far away… The time: May of 2007. The city: Los Angeles, CA. I sit in a darkened room surrounded by a hundred or so of my closest geek cousins. We were about to witness the first viewing of footage from a little film called “Fanboys” exclusively at Star Wars Celebration IV.

Cut to: April 19, 2009, somewhere in New England. I pour a fourth cup of coffee and put my feet up for a private viewing of a little film called “Fanboys”. That’s right, two years later, this little film is finally in theaters on a limited run and it has just been released on DVD. And after watching, I’m left to ask these questions: What the hell took so long!?! And: What the hell have you (Mr. Producer) been doing all that time!?!

Much to my chagrin, the movie is not as good as that preview screening would lead us to believe, or to hope. We gathered geeks laughed out loud at the scenes we were shown and we gave the cast and crew a standing ovation when they came out for their Q&A session.

But somewhere between that sweet embrace and this weeks’ DVD release the Millennium Falcon’s hyper-drive once again failed to ignite. And it’s too bad really, the engaging cast (who have all gone on to bigger and better things) isn’t given much to work with and their valiant efforts never lift the movie above mediocrity. The whole road-trip-comedy-farce-misadventure has been done to death and done better. The “best friend with terminal illness” emotional hook never takes hold. Sorry dude but I don’t dare that you’re dying. The “geek gets the hot chick” shtick was cool in “Revenge of the Nerds” but is so unbelievable here that I swear I saw Kristen Bell flinch when she kissed Jay Baruchel.

The most telling line of the whole film comes at the end when our geek-squad is sitting down to watch the premiere of “The Phantom Menace”… "What if the movie sucks?" asks our hero. We know the answer to that question don’t we? And so do those of us who sat in that darkened room in California two years ago.

Anyway, there are plenty of “Star Wars” insider jokes, riffs on Trekkies, a general skewering of the geek/fanboy masses, and some pretty cool cameos. You gotta love the Priceline Negotiator, am I right? I did laugh a couple of times, but mostly at Seth Rogen in a couple of goofball roles. Overall the film is an uneven mess that I’m guessing will appeal mostly to the fanboys it’s aimed at.

I can only give it a C

FANBOYS official site