Speaking of phenomenons and the fear of missing out on them, a funny thing happened after I wrote my recent piece on being Banned from the Ranch. As denizens of the AICN Chat Room know, one of our regular visitors there is a writer/director by the name of Patrick Read Johnson. He's made films like ANGUS, SPACED INVADERS, and BABY'S DAY OUT. At one point, he was set to make DRAGONHEART with Jim Henson's company signed on to help bring the dragon to life opposite Liam Neeson.

But way back when, Johnson was just one of us, a geek with a dream. He lived in Illinois, a million miles from Hollywood, and becoming a working filmmaker seemed to be the impossible dream. One film changed all of that for him, the same film that transformed James Cameron and Frank Darabont and John Singleton and me and Harry Lime and practically every person under 40 I've ever spoken to about film. It was, of course, STAR WARS.

When Johnson read my article, he came looking for me in the chat room. He told me how much the story had moved him, especially after following the links in the story to the other STAR WARS pieces I've written here on the site. He told me that he had a script he wanted to send me, something I might be able to appreciate. Within moments, 5-25-77 appeared in my e-mail inbox. Right away, the title struck a chord. That date has a hint of the mystic about it for those of us who were so profoundly changed by George's little space opera.

I stayed up until well past dawn reading Patrick's script. I didn't mean to. To tell you the truth, I couldn't afford to stay up that late that night. I had things to do in the morning. I had places to be. And as soon as I started reading the script, none of that mattered. Like Cameron Crowe, Patrick has reached into his own past to craft a moving story of someone finding their voice in a field they love. Unlike Crowe, Johnson has laid himself totally bare. He hasn't fictionalized this story at all. Instead, the lead character of the script is the young Patrick Read Johnson. This is as autobiographical as anything you're going to read, and it's surprisingly painful in places. He hasn't prettied up his youth. He presents his family life, warts and all, to show exactly how unlikely it seemed that he would ever end up directing films.

The premise of the film is simple enough. Patrick evidently visited LA in mid-1976, at which point he was lucky enough to visit the Van Nuys warehouse where STAR WARS and ILM had set up shop. He became obsessed with the film, convinced it would be the biggest thing ever. He spent months and months telling his friends about the film, determined to see the first show on the first day the film was open. When that day finally arrived, forces aligned to keep Patrick as far from the theater as possible. The entire film concerns his quest to see STAR WARS, no matter what.

Of course, that's just the surface. Underneath, this is a film about following your dreams, about doing whatever it is that makes you happy, and it is on that level that 5-25-77 achieves greatness. The last 20 pages of this script were read by me though the distortion of tears, and it's because it spoke to me where I live. This is a film that Johnson wants to make independently, and he and his producers are very close to making some supremely cool casting announcements. I hope this is a film that I have the pleasure of sitting in a theater and watching next year. I have a feeling that it could be important to young filmmakers who are still struggling to find their own wings, their own voices. I know that it spoke volumes to me.