Gamers

This very funny mockumentary takes a few scenes to get on the absurdist wavelength, but once you see where first-time helmer Christopher Folino and his inspired cast of lesser-known TV actors are headed, you will find yourself laughing out loud. The film follows the antics of five adult geeks who attempt to set a role-playing game record. Each of the socially inhibited nerds—they all live with their parents—offers his version of how Demons, Nymphs and Dragons changed his life, for better or worse. Gamers is a grown-up Napoleon Dynamite, deadpan and off-kilter, and—dare we say?—in the same uproarious league as This Is Spinal Tap.

Shelf Talk: Gamers’ star power is limited to TV veterans John Heard and Beverly D’Angelo, with William Katt and Kelly LeBrock popping up in cameos. Monterey is wisely marketing the title on role-playing Web sites (such as RPGnet), YouTube, MySpace, CHUD.com and others.