Souls adrift in the desert of pop culture are set straight by the word of William Shatner in Robert Burnett’s hilarious FREE ENTERPRISE.


skills in practice, and remains unmoved by the repeated ob­ scene calls left on his answering machine by some anonymous fe­ male admirer. One evening, while touring bookstores, Robert and Mark meet their lifelong idol, William (“Call me Bill”) Shatner (who plays himself, or rather a priceless parody of himself). (Jpon discovering that Mark and Robert are involved in filmmak­ ing, Bill pitches them his latest idea for a sure-fire hit movie: a six-hour musical version of Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR in which he, of course, is to play all the parts—save that of Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia (he’s thinking perhaps of Sharon Stone in the role). Nothing like they had imag­ ined him, Bill—like Robert and Mark—is also having trouble with women. A kind of qualified idealism


and true friendship among this fanatical group wins the day, but not before they receive close


scrutiny. FREE ENTERPRISE urges on the viewer the need to find balance; that is, to maintain one’s ideals and still pay the rent—which is sometimes easier said than done. (Only avid video collectors will understand with­ out condemnation Robert’s fail­ ure to pay his utility bills so he can buy, among other items, the Special Edition disc of DAWN OF THE DEAD.) Brilliant is the film’s ability to sustain an unbroken comic pace, while still probing difficult issues through complex main characters. Admirable, too, is the manner in which the film deftly intertwines the lives of Rob­ ert, Mark, and Bill, as they con­ verge flawlessly at the film’s utterly sublime conclusion. Pioneer’s Special Edition


DVD presents the film letter- boxed at approximately 1.85:1 (without 16:9 enhancement) in a crisp and colorful transfer, with the soundtrack presented in a solid DD-5.1. The disc is loaded


with supplements, including WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BE­ FORE: THE MAKING OF FREE EN­ TERPRISE (57m 41s), which contains candid interviews with the filmmakers and cast mem­ bers, including Shatner, who re­ veals how he finally agreed to star in the film despite his strong ini­ tial hesitations to do so (he turns in a wonderful, self-debunking performance). The disc also con­ tains a fun commentary with the filmmakers of FREE ENTER­PRISE, writer/director Burnett and writer/producer Mark Alt­ man, which includes a bit of self-congratulation on their accomplishment. The disc also comes with an option called “Trivia Subtitles,” which, when turned on, presents subtitles ex­ plaining the script’s dozens of popular culture references (al­ though we can’t imagine the option appealing to anyone other than those who would already “get” the references in the first


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