Galaxy Quest
(Click here for Internet Movie Database entry)

Maybe my expectations were too high. I had heard from several friends that this was a very funny movie.  But with the exception of the last 20 minutes, I didn't find Galaxy Quest very funny at all.  I already know that I am a difficult audience for comedies. I am the only person, apparently, who didn't like There's Something About Mary. I thought it was the most unfunny movie I've ever seen. The only slightly funny bit in the whole movie was that Cameron Diaz's ex-boyfirend was Brett Favre.  Rushmore is my idea of a funny movie. But I digress. Galaxy Quest is a really funny idea for a movie.  It is a thinly veiled satire of the Star Trek phenomenon.  In this movie, the Galaxy Quest crew has been left with nothing to do except for attending conventions and signing autographs after their series has been cancelled.  A group of real aliens shows up, having watched all the episodes of the Galaxy Quest TV show, thinking that the actors are real hero astronauts.  Unfortunately, this movie takes a long time to get going and it only after the crew has been taken into outer space by the aliens and is in a real battle for their lives that Galaxy Quest becomes funny and entertaining.  This film has a nice cast including Tim Allen as the Captain, Sigourney Weaver as a ditzy blonde crew member with nice cleavage, and Alan Rickman as the "Spock" character.  They are all good although Weaver's and Rickman's acting skills are sorely wasted here.  Tony Shaloub is particularly good as the "Scotty" character in the crew.  The good aliens are also well done although they come off as more heart-warming than funny.  Despite the urging of my friend Robin who accompanied me to this film and was seeing it for the second time, I can't give Galaxy Quest anything close to 5 bottles.  It may be just me but I don't find Tim Allen walking around with a hangover to be particularly funny. And this is the kind of "humor" that fills the first half of this movie.  Things really take off when it starts making use the very funny premiss for this movie, that the crew gets to actually live an episode of Galaxy Quest.  The good aliens, who have kidnapped them, have built an exact working replica of the TV spaceship.  And the climax of the movie is great as some geeky trekkies help the crew defeat the bad aliens.  I enjoyed a lot of the bits that made fun of Star Trek such as having an actor in a bit part who you know is just there to get killed. But I never laughed out loud.  The rest of the audience, including lots of kids and Robin, laughed a lot. So I am not typical. But I can't give it 5 bottles. Sorry, Robin.