One of those days that will live in infamy for me and I’m sure many other fans of Star Wars is the day I heard in 2012 that George Lucas had sold Lucasfilm to Disney for 1.04 billion dollars. It’s on par with the Moon landing, the assassination of JFK, and 9/11… Just kidding, but it felt like shocking news to me at the time. Well, I wasn’t the only one. Actor/Comedian Connor Ratliff felt the same way. This is why he started doing his own interview show called  The George Lucas Talk Show in 2014. Little did he know at the time it was the beginning of a ten-year odyssey playing George Lucus for an audience. I’m “George Lucas”: A Connor Ratliff Story is a film documenting his journey.

Connor grew up in Jackson City, Missouri, with two wonderful parents. His father was a newscaster/ weatherman and hosted a children’s show called Showtime for his local offiliate station. He seemed to have a good upbringing and because of his father he started in the arts. He eventually went to acting school abroad. He landed in New York in the comedy scene there. He made a lot of friends, but had a traumatic experience getting fired from a television series by a famous actor and producer. This caused him to give up what he loved for many years before being inspired to get back into sketch comedy and eventually doing the talk show once a month.

The talk show is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a show on stage at the Hell’s Kitchen campus of the Upright Citizens Brigade where Raliff as George Lucas and a co-host dressed as Watto, the Tydarian, from The Phantom Menace, played by Griffin Newman conduct a talk show with guests that include celebrities like Mo Rocca whose name rhymes with (Chewbacca), Heidi Gardner from SNL and Zeb Wells who is a writer, director, and voice actor from Robot Chicken. These are just a few of the stars that have been on the show. The show lasted five years before Covid-19 hit and shut everything down in 2020, and he had to stop the show or so he thought.

The director of the documentary Ryan Jacobi filmed Ratliff, his friends, and his family for an entire year in 2019. Using the four seasons as a way to show the passing of time. During this time the show was going strong. He was also doing his improv show the same night once a month. He would get dressed up in his George Lucas garb set up all the props and so forth, spray paint his hair and beard, and have to wash it all out and clean up for The Stepfathers Show fifteen minutes later. It was a lot of work from what it seemed, but he and his friends were enjoying it. Then he would walk down and take his train each night to go home.

The documentary has a lot of talking heads. People such as Patrick Cotneir, the producer of the show and friend, Shaun Distan original co-host (Jar Jar Binks), SNL Alum  Bobby Moynahan, Maryellen De vivo, actor Zach Cherry, actor/comedian Alex Song-Xia, Alan Sherstuhl, JD Amato, Tami Sagher, and Shannon O’Neil. These were all mostly people who were regularly in Ratliff’s life, so they knew him very familiarly on and off of the stage. These men and women knew he was a talented guy who just needed a big break. If indeed that’s what he wanted to continue to do with his life. Eventually, that break would come in the form of a podcast called Dead Eyes.

Ratliff could have given up once the pandemic hit, but instead, he doubled down on his show and it became bigger than ever which launched him into a whole new stratosphere. More people than ever were listening to his podcast and watching The George Lucas Talk Show on YouTube. He got even bigger and more famous stars than before when the show was in New York City.  The pandemic helped him become an overnight sensation. His friends and family who knew and loved him knew this was his destiny all along. He just had to wait for the right opportunity to come for lighting to strike, and it finally did.

I’m “George Lucas”: A Connor Ratliff Story is a documentary of a man who knew he was talented, but needed the support from his loving friends and family to finally realize his dream.  Comedy is something not everyone gets and imitation is the greatest form of flattery. What Ratliff and company are doing is just that imitation.  It somehow connected with people. This film by Jacobi shows that if you are talented and keep trying someone will see you and support what you’re doing. Despite any pitfalls along the way. I can relate to that myself on a more personal level. Fantastic film all the way around.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen