You Can Call Me Bill (2023) Review
You Can Call Me Bill (2023) Review
An intimate portrait of William Shatner’s personal journey over nine decades on this Earth. Bill, as he prefers to be called, rides horses every morning, ran atop a speeding train, stood alone on a rumbling 14,000-foot glacier, fearlessly drove racing cars and motorcycles, swam with sharks on his 90th birthday, and is now the oldest man to have ever ventured into space.
WILLIAM SHATNER: YOU CAN CALL ME BILL – the first and only feature-length documentary dedicated to his life, career, and philosophy – delves into his most fervent passions, hopes and concerns, through a thematic distillation of his most recent autobiographical songs and a kaleidoscopic deep dive into the farthest reaches of his filmography, to deliver an up-close, intimate portrait of his personal journey over nine decades on this Earth.
WILLIAM SHATNER: YOU CAN CALL ME BILL is written and directed by cineaste documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe (MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN, LYNCH/OZ). It makes for melancholic viewing as the subject randomly philosophises as he takes a retrospective look back over his ninety plus years lifespan. There’s film and TV clips springled throughout that remind the viewer of the highs – TV’s original STAR TREK, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE INTRUDER, DEVIL’S RAIN and KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS – and lows – TJ HOOKER, his singing career and his not so successful attempts at comedy.
Otherwise, this is essentially Mr Shatner talking away aimlessly pondering life, the universe and everything else too. This is more of a ramble than structured, which is perplexing given that this comes in chapters that again fail to add anything. It is a series of reflections rather than juicy anecdotes and akin to sitting in on someone’s therapy session as he speaks about always feeling lonely and failing to appear to take joy in any aspect of his long career in entertainment. I would have killed to have him talk about THAT 1968 album he recorded – THE TRANSFORMED MAN – considered to be one of the worst albums recorded of all-time, but alas, it is not that sort of documentary.
William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill is available on Digital Platforms and Blu-ray 27 May. Distributed by Signature Entertainment
TRAILER
