Written by: Samuel K. Sloan (FarPoint Media Executive News Director)
“Gameheads” is an interesting look into the life and mind of a group of RPG gamers. The film takes one day in the life of six gamers who turn from relative losers in real-life to unlikely heroes once every two weeks as they gather together in the basement of their Gamemaster father’s house.
Leading this band of misfit geeks is Gamemaster (GM) Pete, played by Ryu Cope. Like most GMs Pete is a control freak evidenced by the fact that he has all his gaming books neatly arrayed in alphabetical order on the bookshelf openly and proudly displayed for all to see. He lines up his magic markers on the playing table before him side by side in color coordination, spends the first 10 minutes before the start of every game adjusting his chair to the proper height and always puts the toilet paper on the roll so it feeds from the bottom.
It’s Pete’s job as GM to try and bring some semblance of order as the other members of the game run amuck with their quirky outtakes on life, their particular situations (real and imagined), while all the while rolling the dice.
Max’s (Erik A. Williams) life is falling apart all around him, Jason has no life outside of Pete’s basement, Shane must decide between giving his wife what she wants most or rolling that dice one more time. Mallory seems to be the only one with it all together, but she has one troubling matter she can’t seem to figure out — where in the hell did she first meet Ethan? And, speaking of Ethan…who is he, and where did he come from?
“Gameheads” was written and directed by Gwendalyn Cope. The script was totally on. It was sharp, witty, original and I simply loved it. I laughed out loud a lot during this 90 minute romp into the mind of a serious band of RPG gamers. Also every necessary SF and geek-classic reference was there, but not done conspicuously and landed exactly the way they should have for the most effect. Even a remote line from a scene between Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront” was perfectly delivered at just the right place. The film tackled real life problems with both the seriousness and comedy they deserve. These were real gamers, mulling over real problems with a real sword.
By the end of the movie I was completely satisfied that Cope accomplished everything she set out to do with this film, except for one nagging question…Who the hell is Ethan?
“Gameheads” is available now on DVD and I highly recommend every geek have it as part of their DVD collection. Beware — if you’re not a game-geek you won’t get it, appreciate it or like it, but if you have the gene, you’ll absolutely love it. I can’t wait for more like this from Gwendalyn Cope.
On my scale of 0 to 5 stars, I give “GAMEHEADS” 
