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Ewok on the Wild Side

"Star Wars" fans have borne the brunt of jokes from the mainstream media (and the captain of the football team, I'd like to take that dumb jock down a peg...) pretty much since 1977, the year the first movie was released. But we finally have our day with "Jedi Junkies", director Mark Edlitz' smart new documentary about these devotees.

His many interview subjects are not the stereotypical dateless wonders of yore. Instead, the audience is introduced as a parade of engaging folks from all walks of life: articulate collectors, talented musicians, and one tattooed dude I'd be afraid of if I met him in a dark alley (that is, until I saw that his tats are of Darth, Han et. al., and then we'd be buds for life). Many of these folks take a moment to address the misconceptions, the prejudices surrounding their lifestyle, without ever stepping up on the soapbox.

It's that sort of intelligent revelation, a closer look at easily dismissible men and women with a non-traditional passion, that makes "Jedi Junkies" unique. It arrives at a time when the "Star Wars" franchise itself has ebbed and flowed more than once, and other, similar documentaries (two of which I appeared in) have been released since the 1999 "renaissance." Quite frankly, there are now more branches of fandom - collecting, filmmaking, costuming/roleplay, to name but a few - giving Edlitz a vast bag of tricks to choose from, and he has clearly done his research.

At the same, he looks at the phenomenon from a variety of angles, soliciting the opinions of a couple of doctors on the psychology behind fandom. We even hear the point of view of a long-suffering wife, married to a man whose menagerie of "Wars" paraphernalia has taken over a dangerously high percentage of their home. Spousal acceptance is certainly a relatable topic here in the home theater world.

Celebrity-wise, increasingly popular TV personality Olivia Munn brings considerable street cred to the proceedings, and not just as The Hot Chick who every unattached "Star Wars" fan (we need a better name, like the Trekkers have) wishes he bumped into at a con. "Blair Witch Project" director Eduardo Sanchez is another fine example of an accomplished member of society who just so happens to revere the works of George Lucas more than most. They're joined by original cast members Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Ray Park (Darth Maul), all caught on camera at various convention appearances with an assortment of upbeat insights.

But there's also the rock group AeroSith, who put on guerilla-style live performances in full regalia. I was shocked that I'd never heard of the New York Jedi Academy, teachers of proper lightsaber technique and possibly the coolest dudes ever. And in a blatant but much-appreciated bid to gain increased viewership among healthy males, "Jedi Junkies" serves up a harem's worth of Slave Leias, remarkably approachable women who don the braid and metal bikini for a variety of compelling reasons.

The structure is a curious combination of self-contained episodes: posing the eternal quandaries of "Vader versus Maul," "Who shot first," "Which movie is your favorite", and sub-plots that build across the 73-minute running time. Here is where "Jedi Junkies" might go a little overboard, giving too much screen time to a handful of specific fan films, one of which has already been two years in the making, almost but never quite losing focus on the central theme.

Production values here are higher than expected, and the tone is wonderfully refined: serious-but-not-too-serious, and never judgmental. If you're a "Star Wars" fan, or the least bit curious, "Jedi Junkies" is one of the most eclectic, entertaining explorations you're likely to find.

("Jedi Junkies" is currently available via digital distribution from New Video Digital, for rental/sale download via iTunes and Amazon.com.)