Fanboys never decides exactly what it wants to be; a gross-out comedy, a love story, or a pop-culture parody. It ends up, predictably, being a tribute to fanboy culture. The movie follows four friends, and the girl they consider one of the guys, as they go on a road trip to Skywalker Ranch to see a rough cut of Star Wars Episode I in 1998. One of the friends has terminal cancer, so they are ostensibly doing it for him, but really it is just because they are fanboys, and this is their "death star."
     If you were ever a science fiction fanboy, there is much to recognize in these characters. They are picked on by the cool kids, they play videogames until their hands cramp, and they speak to each other almost exclusively in Star Wars references. But one of them, Eric, is starting to grow up and leave the others behind. Is this a good thing? Do they need to grow up? The film doesn't quite decide on this issue either, as Eric's father who encourages him to take over the family business is demonized in the film, but some of the other friends learn their lesson and try to grow up by the end.
     Their road trip takes them all over the country, making stops at various road movie cliches (an encounter with some beautiful women who happen to be prostitutes, a Native American who gives them peyote, you get the idea). There are loads of cameos, some hits, some misses. Carrie Fisher gets a laugh, but Billy Dee Williams is underused. Seth Rogen plays multiple roles, including one whose tattoo gets the biggest laugh of the movie. Fellow Star Wars fanboys Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) make an appearance as well.
     Fanboys is at its best when it sticks to the Star Wars fanboy core of the film, not when the characters wander into crazy comedic situations. In their world, showdowns with their enemies take the form of either lightsaber duels or trivia contests. They are sexually attracted to women, but know nothing about them. Their wardrobe consists exclusively of Lucasfilm-licensed apparel. Many of the jokes in the film fall flat, but it succeeds moderately in capturing the excitement of being a fanboy, which is enough to give it a tentative recommendation.

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Fanboys