'Fanboys' review

Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler and Sam Huntington (Credit: Weinstein Co.)

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It's 1998. Linus (Chris Marquette) has cancer and 3-4 months to live. Rather than attempting any further treatment or spending time with family in Ohio, he and his "Star Wars"-obsessed friends, Windows (Jay Baruchel), Hutch (Dan Fogler) and Eric (Sam Huntington), pack into a van and head to California, where they plan to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and steal a print of "Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace" before it's released. Windows also hopes to hook up with the girlfriend he's only met on the Internet. Co-starring Kristen Bell as a fellow "Star Wars" fanatic and Seth Rogen as a "Star Trek" lover, with cameos by Carrie Fisher, Will Forte, Jamie King, Kevin Smith and more.

The buzz: "Fanboys" has endured several announced/canceled release dates and edits (taking out and then putting back in the cancer-related plot). No surprise there would be such indecision over combining the craziness of a testosterone-driven road trip with the awkwardness of geeky "Star Wars" fanatics and the sadness of a young man with a terminal illness.

The verdict: "Fanboys" has no respect or compassion for its sci-fi-loving characters, presenting them not as dedicated outsiders but pathetic idiots whose social problems are unsettling instead of endearing. Maybe someone out there will crack up just by being reminded of Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" or by seeing Ain't It Cool News' uber-geek Harry Knowles (played by Ethan Suplee of "My Name is Earl") putting a beatdown on the four puny pals. Everyone else will learn how it feels to watch a comedy in a theater where laughs are not just an endangered species, but totally extinct.

Did you know? If it actually were 1998, maybe seeing the guys forced to strip—a la 1997's "The Full Monty"—at a Hispanic gay bar called The Mantina would've been a little funny. Then again, probably not.

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