Fanboys

Low on inspiration and laughs, Fanboys is a movie that should have been made years ago. Christopher Marquette plays Linus, a would-be heir to a used-car dealership and former loser who rejects his high-school buddies' continuing preoccupation with childish things, including George Lucas' Star Wars saga. When his lifelong friend, Eric (Sam Huntington), is diagnosed in 1999 with a terminal illness, however, Linus joins geeky Windows (Jay Baruchel), wildman Hutch (Dan Fogler) and comely Zoe (Kirsten Bell) on a cross-country trip to steal a print of Star Wars: Phantom Menace from Lucas' Skywalker Ranch for Eric to have a look. Along the way, of course, sundry disasters and complications await, everything from getting caught in a gay biker bar to a confrontation with a Vegas pimp (Seth Rogen, genuinely funny). The misadventures at Skywalker include a few good moments, especially when the guards look like characters Lucas might have considered for either of the two trilogies. The best comic material concerns hostilities between Star Wars fanatics and Star Trek Trekkers, including a scene set in the Ohio hometown of James Tiberius Kirk. A few good cameos include William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, and Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. --Tom Keogh