Fat (2013) Reviews

• Dark But Improbably Entertaining Indie Gem

  emvan2015-12-02

  There have been very few films that have treated food addiction seriously, portraying with realism and sensitivity the struggles of the dangerously obese. FAT will therefore get attention simply for its subject matter. But what makes the film shine is its unusual combination of very dark drama and consistent character-driven humor. Imagine if REQUIEM FOR A DREAM were about food rather than drugs ... and was sometimes very funny. The focus here is squarely on fat Ken (veteran TV actor Mel Rodriguez, excellent), but what makes the story work is his relationship with lifelong best friend Terry (improv comedy vet Jason Dugre). We witness Ken's downward spiral of self-sabotage, but he remains intensely sympathetic because we see him just often enough through Terry's eyes. There's no need to give us back story showing Ken when he was more pleasant to be around, because the person Ken used to be is implied by Terry's devotion to him. At the same time, the sometimes disturbing drama is made tolerable by their darkly comic give-and-take about Ken's travails. It's sharp screen writing, right down to an absolutely perfect ending. The rest of the cast are largely first-timers; there are a couple of weak performances in small roles (the only thing that betrays the film's shoestring-budget origins), but Ashley Lauren is very solid and believable as a romantic interest and Kevin Patey a mild hoot as a filthy-minded (i.e., male) co-worker. After debuting at TIFF two years ago, the movie has been re-cut and picked up for premieres in Boston (where I saw it as a member of the local art-house cinema that also had the Boston premieres of Black Mass and Spotlight) and LA, before going to VOD. I think it has a substantial chance to become a VOD hit for two simple reasons: there's never been a movie like this, and it's very, very good.

• Beautiful Film

  jaybeebrad2018-11-07

  Such a well acted, well written film about a man whose self-loathing around his body causes a domino effect in the rest of his life. I am honestly writing this review to combat what was posted in someone else's super ignorant, bigoted review where they felt the need to state, quote, "WARNING: This film contains graphic depictions of obese male nudity." First, this is false. Unless the cut of the film presented at film festivals was very different from what is available on Amazon, there is literally no nudity in the film. The main actor, Mel Rodriguez, is shown at one brief moment sitting on a toilet with no clothes on, but we don't see his genitals at all. In other moments he is shown in quite conservative boxer shorts, and that is the extent of the alleged "nudity". One assumes this person thinks that the idea of seeing a fat person undressed is so horrifying to the general public that they need to give them a WARNING as to the potential awfulness of it, which is deeply offensive and counter-intuitive to the film's message.

• Most Realistic Boston Picture

  pelhamc2016-07-09

  Fat encapsulates what is unique about Boston, or at least Alston, a cool indie scene of its own. This is apart from the slew of Boston pictures out there depicting the big city of the New England states as a kind of New York outer borough with Kennedy accents. Leading man Melvin Rodriguez is a fixture in the Boston music world, you may remember from The Pixies music video for Greens and Blues, or Marco, Jimmy's hometown partner-in-con on Better Call Saul. He's also a stand-up comic and possibly the fattest hipster ever to walk the earth. WARNING: This film contains graphic depictions of obese male nudity. If that's your thing, stay for the jokes. The plot follows the misadventures of an obese man who self-medicates with food until his overeating threatens his tenuous health. This light-hearted comedy never takes itself too seriously. It features character development and independent Boston alt rock. It's a novel and original story, woven around the performance of Mr. Rodriguez. Sometimes it's better to cast comics than pure d actors because they look like real people and bring charisma. I liked it.