Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

This is the little movie that could and did. As much as FANBOYS is a playful poke at the STAR WARS mythology and iconography, I found it worked far better as a love letter to youngsters who experienced the original trilogy in our most formative years, and never gave up hope that a return by George Lucas to his beloved franchise would result in something great. For those of you who remember exactly how a remarkable sense of disbelief swept over you the minute that Lucasfilm logo sparkled across the screen before THE PHANTOM MENACE, this movie is all about you. Regardless of what you felt of that film or the two after it, that time when all things seemed possible again is at the core of FANBOYS.

A little background and full disclosure. I saw FANBOYS for the first and, so far, only time at Comic-Con last July, at a screening that was said to be the world premiere of the final cut of the movie. As far as I know, the version that opens in limited release this weekend is the same version. The cancer storyline is there... barely. I think cancer is mentioned twice in the whole movie and hardly dealt with anywhere else in the film. A few of the celebrity cameos that were added more recently in this now years-in-the-making work are in there as well, but for the most part, this is the film that director Kyle Newman made along with his co-writers Adam Goldberg, and Ernest Cline. Since I saw the film, I've met Kyle (he was my next-seat neighbor at Butt Numb-a-Thon this year) and have told him repeatedly how much I dig the film and how much it made me laugh. Above all things, the movie is funny. They throw a lot of verbal jabs, physical humor, inside geek jokes and great cameos at the audience, and most of it hits. I was particularly bowled over by the penetrating look at the turf war between STAR WARS and "Star Trek" fans. No nerds are spared.

Chris Marquette's character Linus is the one with cancer in 1998, and all his friends want to do is make the long journey across the country to break into the Skywalker Ranch and sneak a peak at THE PHANTOM MENACE Along for the ride are Sam Huntington as Eric, Linus' one-time best friend, who is pulled back into the fray for this journey even though old wounds haven't completely healed. Dan Fogler and Jay Baruchel are also on board as Hutch and Windows. And Kristen Bell's Zoe is just so cute you want to put her in your pocket... and never let her go.

The gang goes on their own personal odyssey of geekdom, during which bonds are reformed and hilarity ensues with alarming regularity. Some of the cameos are inspired, but I don't think any of them made me laugh harder than, well, let's just say that one actor plays multiple parts so effectively, I almost didn't recognize him. Perhaps the most incredible cameo is all of the licensed STAR WARS paraphernalia. It's pretty clear that Lucasfilm cleared a great deal of what is seen and heard in this movie, and you have to give them credit for having a sense of humor about it all. It's almost impossible for me to imagine anyone who give a shit about STAR WARS at any point in their lives not finding this movie laugh-out-loud funny and moving. Put aside all thoughts of what came before, all of the studio mishandling and interference, all of the reshoots and delays. All that matters is this version of this movie. I happen to think you are going to love FANBOYS to death.

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com