Did you know that "Star Wars" fans are a group of hopeless nerds living in someone else's fantasy world⢠That's about the biggest insight you'll get from "Fanboys," a rote comedy that tries to pay tribute to this much-maligned subculture, but, instead, resorts to lazy stereotypes and comedy conventions. Says one geek to another at a costume party: "I hope that's just your blaster poking me."
The well-worn premise: In 1998, five friends travel from Ohio to Northern California to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and steal the unreleased "Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." The well-worn characters: straight arrow Eric (Sam Huntington); cancer-stricken Linus (Christopher Marquette); crass, overweight Hutch (Dan Fogler), a computer whiz named Windows (Jay Baruchel). Together, they encounter the usual folks who fascinate and terrify young males in the movies: hookers, celebrities, homosexuals. A couple of "Star Wars" players make lackluster appearances.
"Fanboys" does have a fanboy history: During production, rumors leaked out that the studio wanted to omit Linus' cancer from the script, but a group of "Star Wars" aficionados launched an Internet campaign to keep it in. No matter -- the whole movie is terminal.
