A movie for Trekkers, made by Trekkers, about Trekkers, etc. Trekkers (oh, not 'Trekkies'-savvy?) are "Star Trek" fans, usually very obsessed fans. However, the 2 main characters here, despite fitting the standard Trekker profile of letting Trek dominate their lives, are well-rounded in other aspects: one of 'em, despite never having any money and a loser sensibility, is pretty successful with girls & doesn't have problems 'getting some.' The other is successful career-wise, with normal interests, as well. The filmmakers obviously wanted to show Trekkers as more than just weird geeks. However, something doesn't jibe with this presentation: the 2 guys come across as SO normal, it's hard to believe they've got every Trek episode memorized. That being said, this flic is a Trekker dream, filled with pop cultural references (for other Sci-Fi famous flics,too) and in-jokes that will probably baffle those not informed about Trek sayings & terminology (one scene is even filmed at a famous site from one of the classic episodes, but this was already done in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"/1991). In the plot, the 2 guys, who both work in the film industry in L.A., happen to spot their idol, William Shatner, in a bookstore (Shatner, who portrayed Capt.Kirk in the classic Trek series and movies, is played by ...William Shatner). He doesn't live up to their expectations of a hero, even coming across as a bit of a loon, setting the stage for the re-evaluation of their lives. In all, the movie comes across as a bit silly and even pointless, with non-too-subtle moralizing about what's important in life, and apparent low-budget origins. But even non-Trekkers should find it mildly amusing. The DVD even has explanations of all the arcane Trek references, including optional subtitles. I'm still not sure what the title means (The Enterprise, of course, was the spaceship, er, starship in Trek, but so what?).
Review of Free Enterprise
