Fat City

I was unfamiliar with Fat City until I saw it referred to in a review of The Wrestler, and there are similarities in tone, theme and plot arc (what there is of it). Director Huston does a nice job of portraying the world of those down and out, and the performances by Keach, Bridges and Colasanto are strong (I am less sure of Tyrell as others are). Race is in the background throughout ("I'm not Irish"; "I told them you were so they'd know you're white"), but Huston doesn't push it. The boxing scenes are well done, keeping in mind these aren't title bouts. Kris Kristofferson is on the soundtrack.

One of those films that gets better the more it sits; `Fat City' is a truly astonishing portrait of the undying burden of broken dreams. The film takes three individuals, all resting at the bottom of their respective lives, all striving for something better, but it's getting there that proves the most disheartening. Tully is a washed up boxer whose age is getting the better of him. He used to be so sturdy, so strong, yet now a simple sparring match causes him to hurt in places he never felt the pain before. Ernie is young and restless and aching for a chance at the big time, but life has a funny way of tossing you curveballs. Oma has been in and out of one bad relationship after another her whole life, and her idea of love and mutual respect has become so tarnished that she drowns herself in booze to escape the reality of her pointless existence. All three of them have dreams that seem almost out of reach; but they try. John Huston directs this film with a gritty realism... Read more

Fantastic film, and I just wanted to add for those interested that on FAT CITY director John Huston used the uncommon practice of filming in full-screen, and then cropping the original image for theatrical wide-screen. Because of this, the original "Full-Screen" version is actually superior in both framing and image quality. (The opposite of the usual situation, wherein a wide-screen image is cropped into full-frame.) Happily, the DVD allows you the choice of watching the film in its original format, or in the wide-screen crop. Either way - enjoy!

In the early seventies, the effervescent creative genius of John Huston was really several steps ahead many of his contemporaries. And "Fat city" seems to confirm it. With a marked influence of Noir Film, the film transcends the anecdote to become his best achievement in years, just before he gave us two others remarkable entries: "The lives and times of judge Roy Bean" and "The man who would be king. On the other hand, this was the film that affianced the career of Jeff Bridges (after "The last picture show") and carved in relief the out of this world artistic gifts of that brilliant and outstanding actor named Stacy Keach who would give a powerful performance that has nothing to envy respect Val Kilmer `s portrait about Doc Holliday in Tombstone. A must-see because of the fact it may be the best film about box ever made.

Stockton may be in the same state, but it's a about as far from Tinsel Town as a migrant fruit picker is from Paris Hilton. Hollywood manufactures hype, faux celebrities, and glossy distractions. Stockton turns out lettuce, tasty artichokes, and other earthy things you can live on. But any hint of glamor in that smoggy, over-ripe sweat-box is about as easy to find as a platter of escargot. Huston provides an unflinching look at life along poverty-row central. It's an inverted Baedecker of a world few movie-goers are ever unlucky enough to experience. We follow Keach's down-and-out boxer as he staggers through about every gin joint and flop house in town, along with his whiskey-soaked girl friend whose last sober breath must have been when the doctor first slapped her bottom.The atmosphere is, shall we say, somewhere between peeling walls and dead cockroaches. Still it's a good, gritty little film. Keach is riveting as a floater who alternates between picking turnips and getting ... Read more