I saw You Can Call Me Bill

Imagi-movie, documentary director Alexandre O. Phillipe's loving tribute to William Shatner, You Can Call Me Bill, is one to analyze and revere, much like Peter Jaysen's Shatner/Nimoy Mind Meld: created, that is, for devotees; and as for those uncultivated outsiders (and that includes those cultists of Dennis William Hauck's Captain Quirk), well, to hell with 'em. 

The  reflective document works because it delivers what it promises. It's all about Shatner, an hour and forty minutes of the 93-year-old, with a result that's more philosophical than funny (though humor certainly intercedes), covering his many jaunts and challenges and how such have colored his career (and our lives). That means Star Trek and Captain James T. Kirk distinguish the grand remembrance (how could they not?), but with Shatner's sidebar triumphs also haunting our collective consciousness: T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal, The Practice, $#!@My Dad Says, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, not to mention a coveted-and-achieved, space-shuttle sojourn.

Shatner's dual role in Jose Briz Mendez's underrated White Comanche is even acknowledged (a clever tit-for-tat that holds its own with Trek's "The Enemy Within" and "Turnabout Intruder"). This inclusion, in itself, furthers You Can Call Me Bill's thorough slant, but it's Shatner's heartfelt reminiscing (with worthy bit after worthy bit, stretching from his youth through his senior years, from times of impoverishment to the well-deserved comebacks) that enlivens Phillipe's expedition. Here we get the still-virile Shatner in a frank, no-frills context, poised under the hot lights, as we, the audience, witness his soulful reveal. 

The content comprises what few actors could hope to gain, but as You Can Call Me Bill implies, Shatner isn't like most actors. He's distinct and original like Bogart, Wayne, Cagney, Eastwood and Brando, with an energetic emoting that's parroted by others because, damn it, Shatner is a charismatic one of a kind. He's relevant, persuasive and beloved, even by those who may have cause not to admire him (pardon the paradox). 

As a lifelong, Shatner fan, I appreciate Phillipe's sincere staging, for it summons the best from the best. For sure, You Can Call Me Bill may come and go in theaters, but like Trek (and Shatner's marginal, though no less important works), this one will endure: a gem that's already a classic without any need of fermentation.