o captain, my captain

You need not be a fan of the Star Trek franchise to enjoy and find value in the movie The Captains (2011).  I must admit that I expected a film written and directed by William Shatner to be a relatively cheesy excuse for why Captain Kirk was the best of what Gene Roddenberry could produce.  But I’ll leave that for others to debate.

What impressed me about the movie was what extended beyond the Star Trek world.  I commented to my wife Banu that either Shatner really cared about what his interviewees thought, or he was very good at pretending that he cared.  (I believe it to be the former, based on the couple of interviews I saw he conducted on his show, Raw Nerve.)  He delved into the lives of Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine.  Some of the conversations get pretty personal:  talks about (failed) marriages, dreams and careers, and even God. 

Listening to them talk about their lives, I felt a sense of rapport as a pastor.  Still, I suppose that my interest wasn’t hindered by the fact that I’ve been a Star Trek fan since my earliest memories of life.