Free Enterprise

I got thinking of this movie after watching the "Star Trek" reboot, so I had to put in my DVD of it. You probably can't rent this movie anywhere because it's one of those little independent movies; I have no idea if it's on NetFlix either but you can find the DVD for sale on the Internet.

Anyway, "Free Enterprise" is the story of two Star Trek geeks who get the chance of a lifetime when they come upon Bill Shatner (playing himself) purusing porn in a local bookstore. In flashbacks we see how Bill appeared to both the impulsive Robert (Rafer Wiegel) and cool-headed Mark (Eric McCormack, who went on to "Will and Grace" fame) to alter the course of their lives.

In the years since both have moved to LA to work in the film industry--Robert works as a freelance editor on pictures like "Beach Babe Bimbo Fiesta" and Mark is pitching a movie called "Bradykiller" about a serial killer with a fascination with the Brady Bunch. As they befriend Bill, though both are facing personal challenges. Robert is constantly low on cash because of his Captain Kirk lifestyle of throwing caution to the wind with an endless parade of women. Meanwhile Mark is about to turn 30 and relationship-wise has nothing to show for it. And both have to cope with a bit of disillusionment when Bill unveils his wacky scheme to stage a musical of "Julius Caesar" with himself playing all the male roles. ("Wouldn't that mean you have to stab yourself in the back?" "Wouldn't be the first time.")

This film is great in presenting a more human side of "Trekkies." We usually think of "Star Trek" fans as four-eyed geeks living in their parents's basements, yapping on Internet message boards all the time, and this is certainly the image mainstream Hollywood likes to portray. "Free Enterprise" because it's an indie film and made BY Star Trek geeks, shows that they have the same problems as most everyone else. Like "Swingers" or "Clerks" it deals with relationships of young people while at the same time being hilarious. And did I mention Shatner rapping "Julius Caesar"? You can't miss that!

The only flaw is that some of the bits like when the guys stop at Toys "R" Us don't really go anywhere. Actually I think there is a remixed "director's cut" version released in 2005 that restores more of the original script and some of the deleted scenes to help remedy this problem.

That is all.

(My score: 4/4 stars)