I watched Fanboys on DVD this weekend. Life imitating art, Life imitating life....I don't know how to call this one.

The Premise: Great. Perfect. Four friends throwing themselves into adventure and excitement in a cross-country quest to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace.

The Script: Also Great. Humor that is both universal, but finds all the buttons of a true Star Wars geek.

The Delivery...Phoned in.

The ultimate failure here isn't due to the fears of the Weinstein Company that the underlying cancer storyline would kill the comedic intent of this movie. It was the actors themselves, perhaps the directing at the root of the lackluster effort. We talk about the George's directing coming off as "wooden" and "lifeless" sometimes. But that is not an inadvertent effect. Watch Tucker or American Grafitti and you'll see a swift-moving, endearing performance by all involved, with the attentive guidance of Lucas behind it. In the Star Wars saga, however, the less than hoop-jumping style of the actors gave it an epic feel, like a legend being retold. (I've never known why people dog the acting in Star Wars but commend film greats like Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments. Now there's some vintage wooden acting.)

But in this one, well...you get the sense that this was not a labor of love for anyone. The humor was there - the gags were ripe with laughter, but staled by a general lack of interest. That's all I can call it.

I think you should see this film because you will find yourself laughing. Well...chortling. Not guffawing. And mostly at yourself, but that's OK, it wouldn't be the first time. Words-wise, it's dead on. You'll even find yourself answering Star Wars geek quizzes before the actors can get the answers out.

My advice - think of it as a fan film. I've seen fan films that were better than this because the people in them actually cared about the subject matter, actually got the jokes, and didn't appear to be sneaking figurative peeks at their watches as they did their lines. It's a shame, because this film had some of the funniest actors on the scene today, definitely some of my most favorite comedic actors in it. Some surprise cameos even.

Maybe Weinstein should have not only listened to the fans when it came to the release of this film. Maybe they should have had it casted and directed by them, too. Maybe that's why they only released to an anemic number of theaters.

But oh well...at least it's out. Finally. And swiftly to the shelf with the other DVD's. There's a painfully self-aware line toward the end: "But...what if it sucks?" referring to long-awaited Phantom Menace. Indeed. Color me disappointed.

DM out