Has anyone ever seen this 1998 comedy, starring Eric McCormack, Rafer Weigel, Audie England and William Shatner who plays - William Shatner! Though everyone called him Bill. What's great is that he wanted to play a less bombastic, more flawed version of himself and it works cuz he did a pretty good job of it.
The film's about 2 29yo sci-fi geeks (McCormack and Weigel) who've idolized Shatner since they were kids and meet him one day in a bookstore, catching him looking at a men's magazine. Later he tells them that he wants to do a musical version of Julius Ceasar with him in all the parts. Eric asks him that if he's gonna play both Brutus and Ceasar wouldn't he stab himself in the back and Shatner says, "I've done it before," which anyone would see coming a mile away, especially if you knew his reputation. I recommend the newer 2-disc version which has some deleted scenes added to it that were from the first release. Most of the rest of those are also shown on Disc 2. I've not listened to the audio commentaries cuz I usually pass 'em up anyway, figuring I could just use that time to watch other DVDs.
I got it for $14.99 at K-Mart, the only place in town that I knew of having it. Just a day or two ago it was that price on Amazon which, as of this posting, they've raised $3 so hopefully you can find it cheaper than that at a store near you. It's not a laugh-a-minute riot but there are some very funny spots in it, like early on when Robert's fighting a bully in Jr. High and has a vision of Shatner who asks why the fight started and Robert didn't want to tell him but after a bit of coaxing from Shatner Robert tells him that it's cuz the bully said, "...Han Solo was cooler than Captain Kirk." Shatner's expletive reply is priceless.
Oh yeah. I've got the DVD. Funny stuff.
I love the "Han Solo was cooler than Captain Kirk" incident too.
Shatner "rapping" Shakespeare is priceless.
The rapping I hated cuz I hate rap, period and was surprised to hear Shatner say it was his idea. And his reply to the Han Solo comment actually came as enough of a surprise that I didn't see it coming so it was that much funnier to hear him use the F-word for the first time I'd ever heard him use it. I was kinda expecting him to substitute something like "bastard" instead.
Lessons learned from this movie:
--Don't quote Star Wars when discussing your relationship.
--Your girlfriend doesn't really care about the correct titles of TOS shows.
--You can meet an attractive, intelligent woman in a comic book store. If it's in the script.
There is one nit I remember - Bill asks the kids waiting on a movie line for the first day of release of Star Trek - The Motion Picture "Have you read the reviews?" No newspaper reviews were printed for ST-TMP on its first day of release; the film was not ready in time for critics screenings. Its first (private) screening was at its Washington, D.C. premiere the night of December 6, 1979. Its first public theatrical screening was the next morning.
I have this on DVD, and it's not too bad. I agree that the best line is Shatner's response to the Han Solo comment.
Definitely, Dotter31!
Off topic a bit, but maybe it's relevant - I met Shatner last week at a book signing for his new bio Up Til Now. He seemed a bit standoffish, distracted and distant, and didn't even look at me when I thanked him. Maybe it was the rushed circumstances of the event, maybe he was exhausted after a day of endless promotion, or maybe Shatner is like that all the time, I don't know. Sarah Jessica Parker was warmer and friendlier to me when I got her the bottle of her fragrance "Covet" signed for my girlfriend last year.