Fat City

1972 - Columbia Pictures
Directed By John Huston


SYNOPSIS

An alcoholic down-on-his-luck boxer Tully (Stacy Keach) spots 18-year old boxing hopeful Ernie (Jeff Bridges.) He sends the young man to his old manager (Nicholas Colasanto.) Soon, Ernie is a rising star but gets sidetracked when his girlfriend (Candy Clark) gets pregnant. Tully is a migrant laborer picking walnuts and onions for handouts in between drinks and hooks up with another hopeless drunk (Susan Tyrrell.) His frustration with their relationship convinces him to start training to box again. He convinces Ernie to return to the ring as well... but can he stay away from the bottle?

 MY THOUGHTS

A deep and meaningful character piece.

Fat City fits the 'mold' of the many intimate personal films of the early 1970's...stories that were never told that way before or since in the Hollywood mainstream. Films like Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail, and Mean Streets are great examples of this sadly short-lived freedom that filmmakers had before the onset of blockbuster-itis killed creativity.

The story is of two boxers headed in opposite directions. Boxing is used only a metaphor here and not the gist of the story. The sport merely represents the everyday struggle of life. To fit this lack of focus on the sport, the boxing scenes are not central to the story and are shot very ordinary - unlike the fights in Rocky or Raging Bull would be later.

Above all, the performances make the film work. As usual with character studies, there isn't much of a heavy plot. It's more of the average everyday occurrences that happen to everyone. All of the actors bring a realism to their parts and have the freedom to make the roles their own without the encumbrance of a rigid plot... almost as much as the actors in the films of John Cassavetes.

All the characters are essentially losers... but they're oblivious to this.
Stacy Keach is certainly the standout performance. He is a drunk deadbeat whose life is in the toilet and would rather float in the bowl than try and climb out. He's been taken in by the American Dream, chewed up and spit out. Yet, we get to know this loser and even care about him despite his numerous flaws. That's very hard to pull off but Keach succeeds.

Also adding to the realism, much (or all) of the film seems to be shot on location using real crummy places that the characters would inhabit in Stockton, California. It's all shot with natural light, giving it a grittiness that's missing all that Hollywood gloss.

With so many gems in director John Huston's resume, Fat City is certainly overlooked... but it is a masterpiece that deserves FAR more recognition.