Results for Fat City
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Dictionary:

Fat City

or fat city
n. Slang.

A condition or set of circumstances characterized by great prosperity.


 
 
Idioms: fat city

Also, Fat City. A condition or circumstance marked by considerable prosperity or having a superior advantage. For example, With that new job she'll be in fat city. [Slang; 1960s] Also see easy street.


 
Movies:

Fat City

DVD Release

  • Release Date: 2002
  • cc
  • Only sound option is the Dolby Digital logo.

  • Rating: StarStarStar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Sports Drama
  • Themes: Boxers
  • Director: John Huston
  • Main Cast: Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Susan Tyrrell, Candy Clark, Nicholas Colasanto
  • Release Year: 1972
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 96 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: PG

Plot

With a screenplay adapted by Leonard Gardner from his own novel, John Huston's drama examines the meager hopes and resigned dreams of small-time boxers. In limbo between retirement and his youthful prime, alcoholic farm laborer Tully (Stacy Keach) shacks up with fellow outcast Oma (Susan Tyrrell) and keeps trying to make a boxing comeback, but his personal demons repeatedly overpower his ambitions. Meanwhile, fellow Stockton, CA resident and budding fighter Ernie (Jeff Bridges) takes Tully's advice to join trainer Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto)'s gym and make something of himself. Learning the tough lesson that winning is not as easy as it sounds, Ernie is still determined to get what he can out of boxing and, unlike Tully, not let disappointments get the best of him. Shot on location in Stockton by Conrad Hall, the film maintains a realistic, slice-of-life view of Tully's and Ernie's struggles, eschewing theatrical boxing victories for psychological and social details. As Huston avowed at the Cannes Film Festival that Fat City's virtue was its "modesty," critics agreed that he had made his best film in two decades; and Tyrrell was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. However, despite the praise and the efforts of producer Ray Stark, Fat City failed at the box office. Even so, its unromanticized depiction of modest wins and personal losses revealed that old Hollywood pro Huston had adapted well to the late '60s-early '70s New Hollywood grit, and the film revived his artistic standing. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Review

One of the masterpieces of Hollywood's last golden age, John Huston's Fat City is the kind of film studios wouldn't touch these days: a small-scale character study about unlucky men living on the margins. Set in a rundown California border town, the movie follows the trajectory of Tully (Stacy Keach), a farm laborer whose once-promising boxing career was derailed by booze. Tully's dismal wallow in limbo contrasts with the halting rise of Ernie (Jeff Bridges), a fresh-faced rookie trying to make it big in the low-stakes world of small-time boxing. Graceful, dignified and seemingly effortless, Fat City finds Huston at the top of his game. A model of understatement, it's a movie of indelible, unobtrusive details, like the thick layer of smoke hanging over a dingy boxing arena, or the slouched silhouettes at the local tavern on a lazy afternoon. Laced with empathy, these moments all add up to a fully realized portrait of failure. Huston is aided immeasurably by his cinematographer, the great Conrad L. Hall. From the Hopper-esque light on an empty city block to the seedy murkiness of dive bars, Hall achieves a gritty, naturalistic look that, like Huston's direction, never calls attention to itself. With its relentlessly downbeat tone, Fat City at times threatens to verge into self-parody (the recurring Kris Kristofferson song, "Help Me Make It Through the Night," doesn't help). For all the potential for bathos, however, the movie remains impressively dignified and self-possessed, and stands as one of the high points of Huston's illustrious career. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide

Cast


Art Aragon - Babe; Curtis Cokes - Earl; Wayne Mahan - Buford; Ruben Navarro - Fuentes; Sixto Rodriguez - Lucero; Bill Walker - Wes

Credit

Tom Overton - Sound/Sound Designer; Margaret Booth - Editor; Leonard Gardner - Screenwriter; Leonard Gardner - Book Author; Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer; Marvin Hamlisch - Composer (Music Score); Marvin Hamlisch - Musical Direction/Supervision; John Huston - Director; Dorothy Jeakins - Costume Designer; Kris Kristofferson - Composer (Music Score); Kris Kristofferson - Singer; Fred Roos - Casting; Raymond Stark - Producer; Richard Sylbert - Production Designer; Walter Thompson - Editor; Morrie Hoffman - Set Designer; Jennifer Shull - Casting; Jack H. Young - Makeup; Arthur Piantadosi - Sound/Sound Designer; Paul Stewart - Special Effects

Similar Movies

Champion; The Last Fight; Requiem for a Heavyweight; Requiem for a Heavyweight; Pugili; Play It to the Bone; Million Dollar Baby; Gladiator
 
Wikipedia: Fat City (film)
Fat City
Fat_City_DVD_cover.jpg
DVD Cover
Directed by John Huston
Produced by Ray Stark
John Huston
Written by Leonard Gardner
Starring Stacy Keach
Jeff Bridges
Susan Tyrrell
Candy Clark
Cinematography Conrad L. Hall
Editing by Walter Thompson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) July 26, 1972
Running time 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Fat City is an American boxing drama film released in 1972 and directed by John Huston.[1]

The picture stars Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, and Susan Tyrrell.

The movie, one of John Huston's later triumphs, is based on the boxing novel Fat City by Leonard Gardner, who also wrote the screenplay.

Tyrell received an Oscar nomination as the world weary Oma.

Plot

The film tells of alcoholic farm laborer Tully (Stacy Keach) who lives with Oma (Susan Tyrrell) and is trying to make a boxing comeback. Yet, his personal problems overpower him.

Fellow Stockton resident and fighter Ernie (Jeff Bridges) takes Tully's advice to join Ruben's (Nicholas Colasanto) gym and make something of himself.

Learning the lesson that "winning is not as easy as it sounds," Ernie is determined to get what he can out of boxing and, unlike Tully, not let set-backs get the best of him.

Exhibition

The film premiered in the United States on July 26, 1972.

The film was screened at various film festivals, including: the Cannes Film Festival, France, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, USA; and others.

Background

The film was shot mostly in Stockton, California. According to the Stockton newspaper The Record's website, Stockton and the surrounding San Joaquin County was once a desirable place to shoot films due to its varied landscapes within considerably short distances of one another. In fact, many films have been filmed in the city and county.

Another factor was the smaller production fees that had to be paid to the county by the producers.

Critical reception

The film received good reviews from film critics.

Critic Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times, liked the film and John Huston's direction. He said, "This is grim material but Fat City is too full of life to be as truly dire as it sounds. Ernie and Tully, along with Oma (Susan Tyrrell), the sherry-drinking barfly Tully shacks up with for a while, the small-time fight managers, the other boxers and assorted countermen, upholsterers, and lettuce pickers whom the film encounters en route, are presented with such stunning and sometimes comic accuracy that Fat City transcends its own apparent gloom."[2]

Roger Ebert liked the film as well and he makes the case it's one of John Huston's best films. He also appreciated the acting performances. Ebert said, "[Huston] treats [the story] with a level, unsentimental honesty and makes it into one of his best films...[and] the movie's edges are filled with small, perfect character performances."[3]

Cast and ratings

Ratings
Canada (Maritime):  PG
Finland:  K-16
Spain:  18
Sweden:  15
United States:  PG

Awards

Wins

Nominations

Footnotes

  1. ^ Fat City at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ^ Canby, Vincent. The New York Times, film review, July 27, 1972.
  3. ^ Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, film review, January 1, 1972.

External links


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Movies. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fat City (film)" Read more

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