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Fanboys

As endearingly grungy and careworn as the Mos Eisley cantina in the original, pre-digitized, puppets-and-all 1977 print of Star Wars
By GARY SUSMAN  |  February 19, 2009
2.5 2.5 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for Fanboys

As endearingly grungy and careworn as the Mos Eisley cantina in the original, pre-digitized, puppets-and-all 1977 print of Star Wars, Fanboys is a sweet little road-trip comedy, one that happens to be about five nerds plotting to break into George Lucas's compound in 1998 to get an early glimpse at the first new SW film in 16 years. Bonus points to director Kyle Newman for upping Kristen Bell's already solid geek cred (and for squeezing her into Princess Leia's gold bikini), for catering to a different set of geeks by finding a role for Danny Trejo, and for suggesting (gently) that Lucas has become the evil emperor he once warned us about. You don't have to be a Jedi acolyte to enjoy Fanboys as a comic trifle, but you may become annoyed when the guy next to you elbows you in the ribs after every in-joke and every surprise cameo from a nerd-world notable. After all, as one character claims, the fanboy experience isn't so much about living in a fantasy universe as it is about bonding over that fantasy with your friends.

Related: Wish-fulfillment for a burning world, Jews just want to have fun, On the 10th drink of Christmas, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Culture and Lifestyle,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY GARY SUSMAN
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  •   FANBOYS  |  February 19, 2009
    Bonus points to director Kyle Newman for upping Kristen Bell's already solid geek cred (and for squeezing her into Princess Leia's gold bikini).
  •   ‘HELL’ YEAH!  |  November 11, 2008
    The richness of Guillermo del Toro's vision as a filmmaker is even more visible in Hellboy II: The Golden Army than it was in 2004’s Hellboy , the last movie he made before Pan's Labyrinth .
  •   DARJEELING UNLIMITED  |  October 03, 2007
    Movie miniaturist Wes Anderson ( The Royal Tenenbaums , Rushmore ) expands his horizons in The Darjeeling Limited.
  •   BECOMING JANE  |  August 01, 2007
    Anne Hathaway is game enough as Jane, though she has to spend an awful lot of time on the verge of tears.
  •   WASTED AGAIN  |  February 07, 2007
    Who was Edie Sedgwick? Was she a muse who inspired some notable work by Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan or just a footnote in their careers? Did she have any talent or accomplishments of her own? Why, in short, does she deserve a bio-pic? Watch the trailer for Factory Girl (QuickTime)

 See all articles by: GARY SUSMAN

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