Fat City
by John Huston
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Actor: Candy Clark, Jeff Bridges, Nicholas Colasanto, Stacy Keach, Susan TyrrellDirector: John Huston
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Conrad L. Hall
Producer: John Huston
Editor: Walter Thompson
Producer: David Dworski
Producer: Ray Stark
Writer: Leonard Gardner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-12-10
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Fat City
DVD Review: You can count on me
Summary: 4 Stars
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.DVD Review: A brilliant portrayal of life's harshest realities...
Summary: 5 Stars
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 that draws the audience in, placing them ringside in the struggles of these intriguing and touching people. There is a definite darkness that coagulates on every frame, but like the films stars, we are able to try and hold onto the glimmers of hope. There is a sharpness about this film; a resonating emotional connection that cuts at the viewer with a stark realism.
Much has been mentioned about the films ending, which is very poignant and very draining, so I won't really say much more. It's something each and every viewer should be able to experience on their own (well said A. N. O'Nemus) so I'll refrain from saying too much more.
I do want to take a minute to mention the fantastic performances here though, all three leads (with an ensemble piece I'm reluctant to really call them leads) are utterly amazing, especially the Oscar nominated Susan Tyrrell who just sinks into her characters hopelessness flawlessly. Jeff Bridges is also a major standout, proving early on in his career why he should be taken seriously. He did this film a year after his first Oscar nomination (for `The Last Picture Show') and this is nothing short of restrained, controlled and sincere. I have heard that Stacy Keach is an acquired taste, but since this is the only film of his that I have seen I must say that I must not need to adjust; for I felt he was stunning. His dedication and connection to the material is wonderful to watch. The fact that he is `down and out' is given an elevated relevance inside Keach's complete grasp of his characters situation. If there is a clear lead performance here, it is this one, and as such he commands the screen on each and every frame.
So, find this one (this is one of those hidden gems a lot of movie lovers may not have heard of) for it is a triumph on all levels. Like I said, the film makes more of an impact the longer it rests on us. The more we let the film settle the more we understand just why this movie is so poignant. This is truly a wonderful cinematic achievement.
DVD Review: Note to DVD viewers...
Summary: 4 Stars
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!DVD Review: A forgotten cult movie from a giant director!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
DVD Review: View From the Bar Room Floor
Summary: 4 Stars
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 knocked around a boxing ring. By now, his face looks like 30 miles of bad road. There've been a hundred movies about boxing at the top; this is one of the few about the bottom, the tank town matches where maybe 30 people show up hoping to see someone else's blood spilled for a change.
Bridges is appropriate as an aspiring fighter who's also knocked up his girlfriend. Guess whose road he's headed down if he's not careful. I like the way Bridges conveys an innate sweetness, what Keach derisively calls a "soft center". We never find out how tough he really is, but he does have the right skin color to draw a Saturday night crowd. There's really not much plot here, just a lot of atmosphere and character interest, with a bar-fly's glimpse of life on the skids, Stockton style. There's also a mute final scene about as eloquently existential as the movies get. I expect this was a film Huston long wanted to make. My only question-- did someone actually expect this inspired little downer to make money.
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Description of Fat City
FAT CITY is a powerful and gripping story about personal wins and losses in the raw rugged world of amateur boxing. Directed by legendary Oscar?-winning filmmaker John Huston (1949 Best Director Best Screenplay The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) the film stars the incredible talents of Stacy Keach (American History X TV's "Mike Hammer") Jeff Bridges (Jagged Edge The Mirror Has Two Faces) Candy Clark (At Close Range American Graffiti) and Susan Tyrrell (Cry-Baby Powder) in her 1972 Best Supporting Actress Oscar?-nominated performance.System Requirements:Running Time: 96 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DRAMA Rating:?PG UPC:?043396078888 Manufacturer No:?07888Jeff Bridges stars as an amateur boxer on a brief rise who catches the eye of an aging pugilist (Stacy Keach) heading downward in this 1972 film by John Huston and based on the novel by Leonard Gardner. Keach becomes the younger man's mentor, and the two hit central California's tanktown circuit of small matches for small money, interspersed with visits to smoke-filled bars and hellish gyms. Theirs is a cut-rate dream, all right, but as real and driving--and finally just as punishing--as the mythical black bird itself in Huston's The Maltese Falcon. The cast is outstanding, the cinematography by Conrad Hall stunning, and the climax one of Huston's most painfully memorable. The story is filled out by surrounding detail that never leaves the memory: boxers and trainers who whisper of injuries that could put them out of business for good; a lone fighter who takes a bus into town, bides time in a crummy motel room, takes a beating in the ring, then leaves on the next bus with a few dollars in his pocket. This film helped re-establish Huston's reputation as a major filmmaker. It was followed by the likes of The Man Who Would Be King. --Tom Keogh
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