Fat City (1972)

Note to DVD viewers...

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! March 10, 2008

A forgotten cult movie from a giant director!

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.

October 24, 2007

View From the Bar Room Floor

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.




- July 6, 2007

proves why John Huston was one of the finest film directors ever

First off, I just wish amazon reviewers would stop revealing so much of the plot. Not only that, it seems one reviewer after another tends to go over the same ground and revealing way more than they should--thus ruining it for those who have yet experienced the film.

Please think of those who would like to see the tale unfold for the first time without having had so much explained and the film "spoiled" for them.

Anyway, no more preaching. You know what it's about: a couple of fighters with big dreams and little ability to make those dreams happen.

It's brilliantly directed (by a former boxer himself) the late, great John Huston. Kudos to the cast and writer.
The ending is also memorable and stays with you. Once again, a tip of the hat goes to the film's helmer for having had the courage to do it this way. July 5, 2007

Fat City

In "City," a return to form for Huston, the director presents a spare, bleak portrait of humanity on the skids in the world of small-town boxing. Not easy or pleasant to watch, the film's impact sneaks up on you, as Huston's spot-on evocation of this down-and-out world eventually creeps under your skin. The acting bar is set high, with Keach believably tragic in the central role, and Tyrrell stealing the picture (and nabbing an Oscar nod) as the bitter, broken down Oma. Though by Hollywood standards a "small picture," "Fat City" still scores a knock-out. July 3, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...