Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Cast members of an expired Star Trek-like show find themselves playing their roles for real. Sort of.
Biased, pithy comments: This is one of those movies that if you fail to accept the premise immediately, you'll think it's stupid. ``The Last Starfighter'' had that problem, too, and how you react to the film is heavily dependent on how your suspension of disbelief works. The plot does not go for all of the easy jokes---this isn't ``Airplane,'' although it could have been without much effort. Instead, it's a slightly more subtle film that leans a bit on your knowledge of how cruddy 70s and 80s sci fi series worked, and as a result it's more character driven and less one-liner driven, although there are a few good one-liners in there to spice things up. Allen manages to imitate both Patrick Stewart and William Shatner (especially Shatner's glib self-centeredness at conventions), while Weaver plays a tired-out former glamour girl in the tight uniform with both pathos and humor. Only Shalhoub is short-shrifted, but that's perhaps because his character clearly supposed to be a druggie but had his scenes cut for ``family appeal''. Your mileage may vary, but when I saw this, I had no preconception of the movie at all---I hadn't seen a preview or even heard its name before I went to the theater---and that made it all the better. It's not a perfect film, but certainly enjoyable for anyone who has ever wished it were real.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Sam Rockwell, Missi Pyle.
Directed by: Dean Parisot