I got a chance to see an advance screening of "Fellowship of the Dice," and I really liked it. It's sort of a cross between "Best In Show" and "Trekkies," as interspersed with the improvised scenes are interviews with real gamers at a gaming convention. I'm not what most actual gamers would call a gamer, since I only play one game about 2 months out of the year, that game only utilizes a single 10-sided die, and I can't quote rules and statistics at random - I don't even know all the rules for the game I do play - and I really don't embrace the actual role-playing part of RPG, preferring to approach it more as an elaborate board game. The reason that's pertinent is that you don't necessarily have to be any sort of real gamer to enjoy Fellowship of the Dice...though it probably helps if you at least know a few of the hardcore types, because half my enjoyment came from recognizing certain archetypes. The other half came from the inspired lunacy rampant in the film and watching the actors throw themselves into it just to keep up with each other - all without blowing the truth behind their characters. It says something for this movie and its cast that as goofy as it sometimes gets, it almost never rings false, and the few times that it does are obviously meant in the spirit of camaraderie and good-natured ribbing at itself and the community it embraces. This is a movie made by actual gamers, and it shows. It never dips into disparaging territory, preferring instead to embrace the sometimes misfit nuttiness we're all capable of and then take it out for a pizza...with friends. It's the cinematic equivalent of doing something ridiculously goofy or stupid, then realizing what you've done and turning to a stranger who saw you do it to laugh and say, "Can you believe I just did that?!"
Fellowship isn't always perfect, and there wasn't a lot of budget to be had, but its production values are on a par with a lot of low-budget independent films and better than most. You won't see the boom dipping into the picture or people stuttering over lines that should have been re-shot, and no one borrowed their dad's mini-DV recorder and a barn to shoot it in. The sound is solid, it's mixed well, and the music actually fits the scene, rather than sounding canned and tossed in as an afterthought or an effort to score someone the producer knows a record deal. The acting is also better than most independent film; no one in the cast comes off as an old childhood friend of the producers, attempting to break into showbiz through the good graces of their pocketbooks or nepotism. Which is a lot more than I can say about a lot of indie films I've seen that had much bigger budgets. And frankly, I enjoyed it a LOT more than I do most independent films. There's nothing pretentious or overwrought about it, and it doesn't spend any of its time bashing you over the head or dancing in circles, trying to make a point or demonstrate how smart it is. It's just good, clean, goofy fun that wants nothing more than to take you along for the ride. And *maybe* make the point that geeks are people too. :)
