Just so...so bad

Just perfect...

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I love and hate this documentary. Technically, it's very well shot, edited, and does a good job of telling the story of the three subjects it follows. It is not very objective, though. It's not about Dungeons and Dragons as much as it is about three awkward underachievers who happen to play this game. There is a big number of gamers that aren't making the most of their lives and others who you'd never want to be stuck in an elevator with, but there are also tons of very successful, intelligent, (and physically fit) people whom play these games. This film is like a documentary about Football, but where they only followed the middle-aged guys who peaked in high school and just play on the weekends.My friends (also D&D nerds) and I watched this film and were entertained by, but it's paints a terrible picture of the people who play D&D.If you want to see a great example of D&D, the a show on Youtube called "Critical Role." It films D&D played by a bunch of successful voice actors who happen to play, and I feel it paints a better portrait of the game.

I have been playing role-playing games (mostly Dungeons & Dragons) for about 26 years, give or take, and I can nod agreeably to some of the things in this documentary, but wow it really, and I do mean really, puts a derogatory light on role-players as people, as it showcases some of the more extremes of people. This movie really makes role-players (or gamers) stand out like social inadequate misfits.I love Dungeons & Dragons, otherwise I wouldn't have played for this many years, obviously, but this movie was just a tad too much. It was all about hanging people out to dry. There were times when I was thinking that this is so staged and fake, because no one could seriously have that sad existences.How about if the director had opted to show people who weren't socially challenged, overweight, nerdy and alienated from the 'normal' world around them? During my 26 years of gaming and having had multiple people in and out of the gaming groups, I can honestly say that the way these people were portrayed, I can only name one in my experience of gaming that would qualify to be part of the ensemble in this movie.I don't believe that this documentary does justice to the role-playing game, or the people that play these games, one bit.And as for the LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing), then I am at a loss here. I can't take that serious. Full-grown people dressing up in costumes and armor, brandishing latex weapons and throwing paper at one another to symbolize magic. What the... It is acceptable when children or young teens do it, but when people in their thirties with a house and family start doing it, you might as well just turn the key and admit to the ultimate defeat. LARPing is lame on an epic scale. And the way that it was portrayed in this movie, really didn't help to improve on that faltering image that it is.What was good about the documentary was that you got to see the aspects of these people's obsession with role-playing and got to delve a little bit into their mindsets, who they were and what drove them on. But I have to say, again, that it was all painted out in a grotesque way to make role-playing gamers stand in a bad light.At the end I was sort of disappointed by this movie, and it didn't really prove to have any entertainment value. If you want to be entertained by something from the role-playing milieu, then perhaps the 2002 movie "The Gamers" is a better choice.

...for the peek it provides into the psyches of three dedicated DMs (Dungeon Masters) and various other participants in the milieu of tabletop role-playing games (predominantly, Dungeons & Dragons). Director Kevin "You're Gonna Miss Me" McAlester strives for what seems to be an impartial viewpoint, but argument can be made that there remains a significant "there but for the grace of God" undertone to the proceedings. All three of the main subjects quite obviously enjoy DM-ing as a means of escape from the sometimes debilitating realities of their oft-times mundane lives. The ability to control a fantasy world goes a long way toward mitigating the frustrations of the chaos of real life. The "drow elf" woman suffers from an abusive past, the military reservist abandoned his first wife and family, and the wannabee fantasy author is supported by a staid, hard-working wife.It's hard to ignore the observation that these people, along with many of the supernumeraries, are overweight, lower-middle class, white people (there's only one African-American apparent throughout the film), and that the vast majority of the population of RPGers is male. Aspersions to the side, it's difficult to avoid noticing the essential escapist nature of RPGing. However, that said, is this really much different from the masses of people who fanatically follow favorite sports teams, or dote on the antics of favored celebrities, or are glued to TV sets tuned to "reality" shows like "Survivor" or "American Idol?" Or, for that matter, is it any different than focusing attention on any of a multitude of computer games, most of which are direct lineal descendants of RPGs like "Dungeons & Dragons?" Aided by precise and evocative camera-work from noted DP, Lee "Dazed and Confused" Daniel, director McAlester points an unflinching eye at a niche population in much the same way as similar docs, "Confessions of a Superhero" (costumed panhandling) and a LARPing doc the title of which escapes me at the moment. These folks may not be role models, but they're surely human beings subject to the same travails as all of us. Just as surely, something worthwhile can be learned from them.