Free Enterprise (film)
Encyclopedia
Free Enterprise is a 1999 romantic comedy film
starring Eric McCormack
and Rafer Weigel
, and featuring William Shatner
, directed by Robert Meyer Burnett
and written by Mark A. Altman
and Burnett.
) and Robert (Rafer Weigel
), fictionalized versions of the film's director and producer/writer. The two friends struggle with adult career and relationship problems, all the while defiantly clinging to the geeky science fiction pop culture of their youth and seeking advice from their greatest hero, William Shatner
.
Shatner plays a campy caricature of himself as he works on a one-man musical version of Julius Caesar
in hopes of finally being taken seriously as a dramatist and musical performer. Hip-hop artist "The Rated R", joined by Shatner, provides the concluding musical number "No Tears for Caesar", a pastiche of famous lines from the play set to a rap rhythm. The film's score was produced by Scott Spock.
and The Twilight Zone, felt that they could make a film out of their clique's obsession with Star Trek. Burnett remembered that one day Altman called him and read a scene where he was beaten up in junior high school for wearing a Trek uniform. William Shatner appeared to him as a vision and told him to fight back. Altman wrote the first draft and then Burnett rewrote it.
When Altman and Burnett approached Shatner about being in Free Enterprise he was not interested: "I had played my [Kirk] persona as far as I wanted to go and probably as far as anybody wants me to go." Undaunted, Altman and Burnett tweaked his character to be more like Peter O'Toole
's in My Favorite Year
. They also incorporated several anecdotes from Shatner's actual life.
theaters in 1998 with little promotion. Burnett said, "Nobody went to see it. It was really disheartening". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
, Kevin Thomas said that the film brought "new life into the Hollywood-set romantic comedy genre" and was "funny, sharp and engaging". The L.A. Weekly said it was a "very funny, likable comedy about geeks in love". In her review for the Washington Post, Jen Chaney praised Shatner's performance: "The often funny and, strangely enough, sometimes touching performance by Shatner."
for Best Home Video Release. A new 2-disc DVD
special edition Free Enterprise: Extended "Five Year Mission" Edition was released on March 7, 2006.
and Logan's Run
. Most prominent is the original Star Trek
, which is treated by the protagonists as a source of inspiration and moral guidance. Free Enterprise explores the dating scene for late Gen-X
Hollywood singles from a decidedly sardonic perspective.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
starring Eric McCormack
Eric McCormack
Eric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
and Rafer Weigel
Rafer Weigel
Rafer Weigel is the weekend sports anchor and reporter at WLS-TV in Chicago. He was sports anchor for CNN HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade and a former actor.-Background:...
, and featuring William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, directed by Robert Meyer Burnett
Robert Meyer Burnett
Robert Meyer Burnett is an award-winning filmmaker and DVD producer. He directed Free Enterprise and the short film, The Sacred Fire. He has also edited over 10 feature films and worked as a Star Trek consultant for Viacom Interactive and Paramount Parks' Star Trek: The Experience located at the...
and written by Mark A. Altman
Mark A. Altman
Mark A. Altman is a film producer, screenwriter and actor. In 1998, he won Best New Writer at AFI Fest. His credits include:*DOA: Dead or Alive *The Specials *Free Enterprise...
and Burnett.
Plot
The film deals with the mid-life crises of its two main protagonists, Mark (Eric McCormackEric McCormack
Eric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
) and Robert (Rafer Weigel
Rafer Weigel
Rafer Weigel is the weekend sports anchor and reporter at WLS-TV in Chicago. He was sports anchor for CNN HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade and a former actor.-Background:...
), fictionalized versions of the film's director and producer/writer. The two friends struggle with adult career and relationship problems, all the while defiantly clinging to the geeky science fiction pop culture of their youth and seeking advice from their greatest hero, William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
.
Shatner plays a campy caricature of himself as he works on a one-man musical version of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
in hopes of finally being taken seriously as a dramatist and musical performer. Hip-hop artist "The Rated R", joined by Shatner, provides the concluding musical number "No Tears for Caesar", a pastiche of famous lines from the play set to a rap rhythm. The film's score was produced by Scott Spock.
Cast
- Eric McCormackEric McCormackEric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
as MarkMark A. AltmanMark A. Altman is a film producer, screenwriter and actor. In 1998, he won Best New Writer at AFI Fest. His credits include:*DOA: Dead or Alive *The Specials *Free Enterprise... - Rafer WeigelRafer WeigelRafer Weigel is the weekend sports anchor and reporter at WLS-TV in Chicago. He was sports anchor for CNN HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade and a former actor.-Background:...
(Spencer Klein, young) as RobertRobert Meyer BurnettRobert Meyer Burnett is an award-winning filmmaker and DVD producer. He directed Free Enterprise and the short film, The Sacred Fire. He has also edited over 10 feature films and worked as a Star Trek consultant for Viacom Interactive and Paramount Parks' Star Trek: The Experience located at the... - Audie EnglandAudie EnglandAudie England is an American actress and professional photographer.- Biography :She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and graduated from UCLA with a concentration in cinematography....
as Claire - William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
as Bill - Phil LaMarrPhil LaMarrPhillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
as Eric - Thomas HobsonThomas Hobson (actor)Thomas Hobson is an American stage, film, and television actor.He began acting when he was six years old, and received a B.A. in Theatre Studies from Yale University in 2004.-Career:...
as Richard - Jennifer Sommerfield as Tricia
- Jonathan SlavinJonathan SlavinJonathan Slavin is an American actor.-Biography:Slavin may be best known for his portrayal of neurotic Byron Togler on the Fox network's sitcom Andy Richter Controls the Universe and as scientist Phil Myman on ABC's sitcom Better Off Ted....
as Dan - Patrick Van HornPatrick Van HornPatrick Van Horn is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sue in the 1996 film Swingers, starring alongside real-life friends Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn and Ron Livingston...
as Sean - Lori LivelyLori LivelyLori Lynn Lively is an American actress and television co-host/designer.-Personal life:Daughter of talent manager Elaine Lively and the sister of Jason Lively, Robyn Lively, Eric Lively and Blake Lively. She is the sister-in-law of actor Bart Johnson....
as Leila - Holly GagnierHolly GagnierHolly Gagnier is an American actress.Gagnier's notable roles include long running stints on daytime's One Life to Live, and Days of our Lives. She has been seen on television shows including Murder, She Wrote and Wings...
as Laura Hafermann - Ellie CornellEllie CornellEllie Cornell is an American actress and movie producer, known primarily for her roles in horror films. After her marriage to producer Mark Gottwald, she is sometimes credited as Ellie Gottwald.-Career:...
as Suzanne Crawford - Marilyn Kentz as Gail, Mark's mom
- Diana Cignoni as Illa
- Sharon Leibowitz as Sharon
- Daniel Schweiger as Schweiger
- Mickey CassidyMickey CassidyMickey Cassidy is an American stunt actor.-Filmography:He has appeared in many movies including:*2005 Jarhead *2005 All That 10th Anniversary Reunion Special *2005 Mystery Woman: Snapshot...
as Bully
Production
Kay Reindl, a friend of Mark A. Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett, and a television writer on MillenniumMillennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
and The Twilight Zone, felt that they could make a film out of their clique's obsession with Star Trek. Burnett remembered that one day Altman called him and read a scene where he was beaten up in junior high school for wearing a Trek uniform. William Shatner appeared to him as a vision and told him to fight back. Altman wrote the first draft and then Burnett rewrote it.
When Altman and Burnett approached Shatner about being in Free Enterprise he was not interested: "I had played my [Kirk] persona as far as I wanted to go and probably as far as anybody wants me to go." Undaunted, Altman and Burnett tweaked his character to be more like Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
's in My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...
. They also incorporated several anecdotes from Shatner's actual life.
Release
Free Enterprise was given a very small theatrical release in only nine Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
theaters in 1998 with little promotion. Burnett said, "Nobody went to see it. It was really disheartening". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Kevin Thomas said that the film brought "new life into the Hollywood-set romantic comedy genre" and was "funny, sharp and engaging". The L.A. Weekly said it was a "very funny, likable comedy about geeks in love". In her review for the Washington Post, Jen Chaney praised Shatner's performance: "The often funny and, strangely enough, sometimes touching performance by Shatner."
Awards and nominations
The film won four awards including the 2000 Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Home Video Release. A new 2-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
special edition Free Enterprise: Extended "Five Year Mission" Edition was released on March 7, 2006.
Pop culture references
The film is laced with references to past and contemporary science-fiction films and television shows, such as Star WarsStar Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
and Logan's Run
Logan's Run (1976 film)
Logan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources are managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing...
. Most prominent is the original Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, which is treated by the protagonists as a source of inspiration and moral guidance. Free Enterprise explores the dating scene for late Gen-X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
Hollywood singles from a decidedly sardonic perspective.
Sequel
A sequel called "Free Enterprise: The Wrath of Shatner" is currently in pre-production. Interviewed at Comic-Con 2011, director Robert Meyer Burnett admitted that earlier in the year, funding for the sequel was pulled two days prior to filming, but says that the project is not dead.External links
- In depth review of the Extended Edition -- by Philipe Rubio, Bits of News.
- interview with Mark Altman
- a collection of articles about the movie