Shoot or Be Shot (2002)

Shoot or Be Shot (2002)

Directed by: J. Randall Argue

Starring: William Shatner, Harry Hamlin, Scott Rinker

So, the premise of this film is that it’s a movie… about people making movies! This is almost universally a terrible beginning, however Shoot or Be Shot has almost none of the actual filmmaking in it, like it wasn’t Bowfinger or even Burn Hollywood Burn, it just kinda happened to take place on the first day before they would have shot a movie. With five people.

Shatner plays an escaped mental patient who was institutionalized because he wanted to be a screenwriter (I’m pretty sure that was the reason). He runs across an incredibly small film production of a movie with no script and tries to force them at gunpoint to film his script. With just what they have with them, which is basically a producer, a director (who’s name was Gary Sue, I think), two actors, and a cameraman. Having NEVER SEEN HIS SCRIPT BEFORE AND THEY ARE IN THE DESERT. It doesn’t go well.

You know what the best thing about movies about movies is? For this film’s writer/director J. Randall Argue, Shoot or Be Shot is his first IMDb credit, and this is followed only by a similar credit for a short film in 2009, and that’s it. So… obviously he had a very deep understanding of the source material in the first place. Also it just proves that William Shatner will play any role for probably a big sandwich or something.