2006-03-22 – Rolling the Dice

Rolling the Dice: Chris Ryall gives a new mockumentary a 64-sided roll and comes away impressed by the powers of GAMERS: THE MOVIE.

(If you missed this week’s TV RECOMMENDATIONS, not to worry: just click here.)

I’m not now, nor have I ever been, a gamer. I don’t say this like there’s anything wrong with it, and as a comics junkie, I’m certainly not trying to place myself higher in the “geek hierarchy.” I just wanted to make it clear that while I never delved into role-playing games myself, I did enjoy like crazy a new movie, GAMERS, that does for gamers what TREKKIES did for STAR TREK fans.

GAMERS is a movie done in mockumentary style, and I can tell you that the people who say this style of filmmaking is overused are just citing bad examples. As evidenced by Christopher Guest movies, THE OFFICE, even Werner Herzog’s INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS flick and others, the format can be a lot of fun to watch if well-executed. Which GAMERS is.

Part of me was afraid to watch—an indie film about guys playing a D&D-type game had a lot of potential to be an ill-conceived and low-tech fan-film. And since the guys who made the movie have been so great to deal with, even offering to bring a print of the movie down to San Diego to screen it for me personally, I really didn’t want to find fault with it on that alone. But ultimately, it wouldn’t do them any good to lie and say I liked the film if I didn’t… so it was a pleasant revelation to find that the movie is shot professionally, well-constructed, and very entertaining and funny.

Of all the various mockumentary-style movies mentioned above, I’d say GAMERS shares the most in common with THIS IS SPINAL TAP. It’s not at that level, but in tone, crudeness and general deconstructing of guys who devote a bit too much of their life to their hobby, it has a similar feel. And I’d imagine that it could well become a beloved cult film, and not only for the gamers set.

GAMERS is the story of a group of friends who’ve been playing “DND” (here, Demons, Nymphs, and Dragons, but we all know what the game’s name is a thinly veiled reference to) for over two decades. The same game. For 23 years. Through the changes in their life (which really aren’t many, other than their physical age), the group has kept playing. In fact, the focus of the movie is a filmed look at their upcoming “record-breaking weekend,” wherein they will officially beat the previous record for playing a single game of DND (held by some Iowa corn farmers). But if, like me, you weren’t a D&D player, you don’t have to worry about the gaming scenes overtaking the movie. The game is the focus, but of course the real story of the movie is a deeper look at the lives of the guys playing the game. And not in one of those “DND is a metaphor for life” kind of ways; rather, the people and their foibles (of which there are many) are what the film really explores to funny effect. The game is just the glue that binds this group of misfits together.

You also don’t need to be a gamer (or a comic fan, or geek of other renown) to relate to the characters, although it does help. I could definitely recognize the various character types, and while some are on the surface your stereotypical geek (30 years old and living at home with the parents), the movie doesn’t relentlessly mock them or find cheap laughs at their expense. Well, some, but then again, some are needed. And some of their parents don’t come off any better (which makes me, a new parent, sit up and pay attention so I don’t do to my kid what these parents do to theirs). For these guys, amidst all the personal turmoil, problems at home, dead-end lives and worthless (yet very funny) jobs, DND is the glue that binds them together and gives their lives meaning. You hope that by the end, more meaning will be found, but either way, watching this all play out was a lot of fun.

The main gamers in the movie are unknowns, but they acquit themselves admirably. There’s not much stilted, new-to-acting awkwardness, and they all come off as believably pathetic. They also come off as believable friends who’ve interacted for the past two decades. To give the movie a bit more acting credibility, some well-known guest-stars show up, including John Heard and Beverly D’Angelo, along with Kelly Le Brock.

Like I said, the movie is funnier than it had any right to be. It didn’t just go for the easy gamer-related jokes, although the guys do take their deserved licks (anyone who lets their hobby supercede all other areas of their life for two decades needs to have a few jokes flung their way). The guys are immersed in their gamer lifestyle the same way other pop culture fans start to live and breathe their passions. So in this case, instead of a guy trying to pick up a girl by saying “How YOU doin’?” or some such, one of them tries “Hey, baby, do you have a comeliness of 18?” on a girl (to similar effect).

Oh, and there’s an angry midget, a good KKK joke, a flashback to some old McDonald’s try-out commercials, and other such potentially offensive and definitely funny moments that the movie doesn’t shy away from. Some films throw dumb jokes out there and move quickly past them, almost apologizing for including them. GAMERS, instead, owns the jokes and holds them a few seconds longer than you’d think they would/should… which only makes them funnier.

Don’t get me wrong—some of the scenes are absurd, and probably only in the movie because of their absurdity and not because they necessarily advance the plot, but this isn’t a plot-driven movie. It’s a good, funny character-driven movie.

I’ve rambled on a lot without really saying anything too specific about the movie itself (repeating jokes here doesn’t do anything but cheapen them for the people who haven’t but will see the movie), but I would like to specifically mention the soundtrack. A good thing about an indie film like this, other than the freedom and enthusiasm the filmmakers have for the project, is the freedom to use music that fits a scene, rather than a song that sells a soundtrack. The songs are recognizable (even the Cure is on there) and fit the moments in the movie when they’re used—they service the plot, or emphasize a joke, rather than beating you over the head with a band that some studio head heard the kids today would like.

The movie had its official premiere last night in Beverly Hills. Hopefully that means it’s one step closer to finding a distributor and working its way out into the world. The movie definitely has a comeliness of 18.

Check out the official GAMERS site here.

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