The Last Man on Earth lives in a fortress surrounded by razor wire, the last man on earth has a fully automatic assault rifle and the last man on earth was not alone when he saw FREE ENTERPRISE the new film from geeks like you and me. The Omega Man now talks...
Hey Harry, The Omega Man here....
I just got back from the first ever screening of "Free Enterprise", there's been a tiny buzz going on about this one lately, and with good reason. This movie is a fan boy's wet dream. Plain and simple. There is going to be people who just love this flick and then there will be those who just don't get it. I don't think it's a mainstream film, but if they could even attract even half of Trek's audience that's money in the bank right there. It kinda reminded me of Kevin Smith's work, which imho isn't a bad thing. Lots of movie references to Trek and just about any other film under the sun. For readers who aren't in the know, the film is about some film geeks with job and relationship problems who meet William Shatner and comedy ensues when they try to straighten out their love lives and careers (Shatner's included). The version I saw was in it's very early protoplasmic form, we watched it from an Avid video tape with a temp track. I wish it had been an actual print because the colors really bled and I couldn't really get an idea of how the cinematography or tech specs panned out so I'll stick to the story and acting.
The film is about two good friends who both work in the industry, Robert is a failing editor of B-movies (an awesome line went to the effect of "we're going to have to re-edit that because her boobs are bouncing out of sync") and Mark works for a magazine but he is also trying to peddle a horrible script called "Brady Killer" in which a serial killer is killing the Brady family. These guys are both having crises, Robert gets dumped by his girlfriend and Mark feels that he hasn't accomplished anything with his life and the clock is winding down. Things begin to change for them when they bump into William Shatner in a bookstore (who happens to be reading porn btw). After much cajoling Shatner gives in and later on while drunk he tells them about his idea for a six hour long musical verson of Julius Caesar which he would write, direct, and star in ALL of the roles.
The best part about this movie was that it really hit the film geek group. You probably know who you are, but just in case you didn't know, if you still have toys in the closet or assloads of movies on tape you're one of them. In easily my favorite scene of the film the guys make an excursion to Toys-R-Us and while in the action figure aisle discuss Star Wars with an 8 year old (who rips on them because they don't know how to pronounce Prince Xixor's name from "Shadows of the Empire"). On top of that, nearly every scene had some kind of Trek reference, though mostly classic Trek, and yet there were tons of other references to Star Wars, Space 1999, and Logans Run just to name a few.
There were some downsides however. The film was obviously a little green or "indie". There was some good acting and some bad acting, one of the guys from "Swingers" has a bit part and the goofy guy from NBC's failed sitcom "Union Square" really suprised me, I wish I knew their names. Oh, man, did Shatner kick ass. He was funny. He was suave. It was weird because it kinda reminded me of George Burns as god, kinda like a mentor who steps in every once in a while to liven things up. He didn't really have much screen time though, not nearly enough, because with the exception of the very ending which featured him rapping a song about Caesar, Shatner just ruled the screen. I could really see him making a career out of comedies, kinda like Leslie Neilsen did. If I could do what I would with this film I would buy the rights and do some reshoots (loose the rap song guys), because with a little work I think it could do the same kind of business Kevin Smith's movies have done in the past.
It's definetly not "Dogma" quality though. In any case, the film was actually a lot of fun and it's definetly worth a viewing on video or a matinee in the theatre.
Last man on Earth signing off... "Wawazat!!!"
