Gamers proves that independent films with shoe-string budgets and short shoot times don't have to suck. Christopher Folino and partners make the best of a tough situation by nabbing some pretty solid acting talent, and bringing to life a decent script about a group of friends going nowhere fast in life as they approach the record for the longest running pen and paper role-playing game Demons, Nymphs and Dragons (or DND). While Gamers appeals more to fans "in the know" due to a multitude of inside jokes, the film does offer lots of comedy for mainstream fans as well. If you like well paced comedy like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Arrested Development, then Gamers is worth taking a look at.

The lead actor in Gamers, Kevin Kirkpatrick, is a familiar face if you are a fan of TV comedies. For me his most notable role was as Kevin the stalker on the fake Spike TV reality show, Joe Shmoe 2. In Gamers Kevin plays a more stable personality in Gordon, a lovable loser trapped in a dead end job, living at home with his quirky parents, and spending way too much time play a Pen and Paper role-playing game called "Demons, Nymphs and Dragons." Kevin plays Gordon with skill and ease, delivering a character that you can sympathize with and almost relate to.

Likewise, Kevin Sherwood's role as Kevin is one of the strengths of the film. Kevin's dislike of Reese is particularly noteworthy as it serves as the conflict of most the film. Kevin's day job segments are the most amusing moments in the film in my opinion. His showmanship during the group's game session is also pretty amusing for anyone that has had the displeasure of playing a PNP with someone who takes the whole concept too far.

Reese, who gets a lot of focus in the film, is a great supporting character, though his introduction proves to a bit over the top. Admittedly we can all relate to Reese - he's the hapless loser who thinks he's smart and funny, concealing his own doubts about his meager existence. Reese is the guy who pays to hang out with other people, despite his own air of superiority in all matters. A paper tiger in reality, Reese is the target in 90 percent of the film and holds the record for the most characters killed within this RPG group.

While Reese's introduction in the film is a bit over the top, it does set up the majority of the conflict that the group endures during the rest of the film. The character does work better when the group is finally brought together, with the Reese character being used as the lightening rod of hate during the rest of the film. We all know someone like Reese (he's the guy who you play that joke that "almost goes to far" and he forgives you but resents you later) and there's always another friend that targets a person like him at every turn.

Fernando is probably the most out of place character in the film, but as the story unfolds his character works very well within the context of the story. The writer probably could have made his lingo a little more role-playing heavy to make the whole "he learned English by playing DND" more believable. Again, another great supporting character whose antics help sell the comedy in the film. Some of the grossest scenes in the film relate to Fernando and his job in animal husbandry with Gordon's dad. Fernando's on-again off-again relationship is also an important plot vehicle in gamers that adds some extra tension beyond Reese's whining about his homage to Ferrah Fawcett..

Scott Allen Rinker's role as Paul is pretty solid as well. His affinity for keeping a clean vocabulary after a grade school run-in with a nun, and his addiction with Pagan character names proves to be another funny aspect of the game. His manipulation of the group to stay together and break the record held by Midwestern farmer gamers is also a strong aspect of the Paul character. Paul is a master manipulator for that fact alone, but surprisingly he's not the alpha male in the group.

Gamers also offers a number of great cameos including William Katt who plays Reese's supervisor, John Heard and Beverly D'Angelo who play Gordon's lusty middle-aged parents and Kelly LeBrock, who does a short cameo as the mom of Gordon's no-show prom date. William Katt's performance as Reese's supervisor is another highlight of the film as he carries on about Madden's franchise mode and Mexico. Likewise, Gordon's dad is a solid character whose disinterest in his son's hobby and his own addiction to "bunko" proves to be more adhesive that holds the film together until the end.

These actors really sell the fact that all of these players are losers who are going nowhere fast. The film does a great job of embracing this fact, and it isn't until the very end that there's an awakening to the fact that there's more to life than the imaginary world of DND.

The film makes great use of situational comedy, tying several scenes together to culminate into multiple pay-offs. Gamers also uses flashbacks to flesh out the group’s lives, explaining in part how they ended up playing this game for over 23 years. From Gordon's dead-end job to the ultra hilarious recording session where Kevin belts out the tune "I Love Dick," Flashbacks are really used to explain why this group of guys are going nowhere. The use of flashbacks is influenced by the writer's love of The Family Guy according to his own public omissions, but their use reminds me of the offbeat indie comedy Buffalo 66. Like that film, Gamers uses them with great success, filling in the holes and fleshing out the story.