A movie generating much buzz on the Internet prior to its token theatrical release, Fanboys was actually shot years ago, but yanked away from its director Kyle Newman by executive producer Harvey Weinstein, provoking an outcry among real-life fanboys, who threatened to boycott other Weinstein movies unless this one was given back to its original helmer. Unfortunately, the final product indicates that all the fuss was unwarranted. Set in 1998, Fanboys follows four nerds—Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel), and Eric (Sam Huntington)—on a cross-country odyssey in the hopes of being able to sneak an early look at the upcoming Star Wars film by breaking into the editing room at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. The reason for this extreme mission is that Linus has terminal cancer and wants to see The Phantom Menace before he dies. Despite a few clever lines and cameos by the likes of William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (the latter two in their familiar characters of Jay and Silent Bob), Fanboys misses numerous opportunities and never quite capitalizes on its winning premise, with the Ernest Cline-Adam F. Goldberg screenplay recycling jokes from earlier films (although a pre-Knocked Up Seth Rogen is hilariously demented as a rabid fan). Not a necessary purchase. (E. Hulse)
Fanboys
Weinstein, 90 min., PG-13, DVD: $19.98, May 19 Volume 24, Issue 2
Fanboys
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