[.ca] Fat City

Amazon.com essential video:
Jeff 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

Lives of quiet desperation...:
Every few years I reread Leonard Gardner's novel, "Fat City" and am awed by how vividly it paints a world of men and women whose lives are going nowhere. Over a hundred and eighty-three pages, divided into twenty-four chapters, each one a model of economy and precision, Gardner manages to say something about defeat that most writers wouldn't be able to convey in twice that length. After every reading of the book, I end up seeking out John Huston's film hoping it will somehow match the brilliance of Gardner's prose. It never does. But it comes pretty close. The story of "Fat City" involves two men, both boxers, who are at different points on the same arc. Billy Tully has had a brush with a modicum of success but has long lost whatever gift took him even that far. Ernie Munger, ten years younger, has his youth to award him a glimmer of hope but more than likely he will be lucky to achieve even the level of mediocrity Tully climbed to. Interconnected with these two characters are the women they become involved with and the usual boxing hangers-on - the trainers and managers whose meager dreams are built on the Billy Tullys of the world. There is very little plot to speak of, the narrative following Ernie's entry into boxing and the responsibilities of adulthood, and Tully's last few grasps in the ring to rise above the laborers he picks vegetables with at ninety cents an hour. Whereas the novel is able to directly express the inner lives of its characters by sharing their thoughts and histories, the film is forced to leave much of this content out, relying on visual details presented through Conrad Hall's brilliant cinematography to create its texture of lives gone to seed. The film's screenplay, also written by Gardner, takes its dialogue directly from the novel. Both the novel and film are more about mood or tone rather than plot. There is no conflict or tension to propel the narrative forward. Nothing much happens. We are just given a glimpse into a world. The novel's superiority might be due to the slightness of the story flattening out even more on screen. The performances in the film are exceptional, with Susan Tyrell, Stacy Keach and Nicolas Colasanto being particularly outstanding. One minor complaint would be that for a film that strives for realism, many of the boxing sequences, particularly those involving Jeff Bridges, are somewhat unconvincing. Some works of art, for whatever reason, touch you at a level that transcends their actual merit. For me "Fat City," both the novel and the film, achieve greatness because they are examples of that type of art.

Brutal Reality Brilliantly Portrayed:
Stacey Keach and Susan Tyrrell deliver Oscar caliber performance while Jeff Bridges launches a brilliant career in this 1972 epic, one of the best directorial efforts of the storied career of John Huston. Keach and Bridges play fighters trying to make a go of life in the tough world of professional boxing in Stockton, a delta city in Northern California. Keach, living in a fleabag hotel, meets young Bridges at the local YMCA, where the former professional boxer has gone to work out. After enticing Bridges to spar a little, Keach is astonished when the younger man with the fast moves reveals he has never boxed, either amateur or professional. Keach suggests that Bridges look up his former manager, played by Nick Colasanto, at the Lido Gym. Colasanto and his trainer, played by former ranked lightweight and welterweight, Art Aragon, waste no time in turning Bridges amateur. After Bridges' first workout Colasanto tells his wife that a good looking, clean cut "white kid" like Bridges should make a good crowd draw. Keach falls on hard times, getting fired from his fry cook's job, going out early in the morning to work as a picker at nearby farms. He also forms a romantic relationship with hard luck Tyrrell, a heavy drinker, whose live in love, played by former world welterweight champion Curtis Cokes, has gone to jail on an assault charge. The fight was brought on by resentment of his interracial romance with Tyrrell. Meanwhile Keach moves in with Tyrrell. When Keach, spurred on by Bridges' ring progress, decides to make a comeback, in his sober state he can no longer abide Tyrrell and moves out. When Cokes finishes serving his time he moves back in with her again. Bridges has his own romantic involvement with Candy Clark. They make love in his car. She tells him she is pregnant and they get married. Keach gets in shape and wins the first bought of his comeback against a Mexican fighter, played by noted light heavyweight boxer Sixto Rodriguez. What Keach does not know was that his opponent had passed blood in his hotel room and could not hold up to body blows, having been injured in a previous bout. All the same, he needs the money, and so he fights Keach anyway. When all is said and done Keach, after Colasanto has taken out deductions for expenses such as room and board for his fighter, receives one hundred dollars. Keach becomes incensed, telling Colasanto once more about the time he let him down and, to save two hundred dollars, let him travel to Panama by himself for his most important fight against a local favorite, then ranked fifth in the world. With Keach ahead his cornermen, in an effort to win the bout for the Panamanian, administered cuts over both eyes with razor blades. This resulted in the referee stopping the bout. After that Keach's wife left him and his life spiraled rapidly downhill. With resentment for Colasanto revived, a sulking Keach hits the skids once more, returning to heavy drinking. At the film's end he sees Bridges after the latter has sought to avoid him. Bridges tells him about his second child, and that he is still fighting professionally. As they sit in the coffee shop Keach gropes for meaning in life, wondering just where he is gone, fearful of how he will turn out. Leonard Gardner adapted the screenplay from his own novel. Each had the same hard edge as the world he describes. He should know since it was his world. Gardner grew up in Stockton, boxed as an amateur, and wrote the novel while on the bum in Mexico.

Boxing without Don King.:
This is a great grim movie. Huston did a heckuva job adapting Gardner's novel, but he started with grim material and went deeper into it. One memorable scene is when Keech manages to shake off his wine hangover and walks outside his transient hotel to try and make a new start on his life. He boldy heads out on the sidewalk, does a bit of bobbing and weaving on the curb. He's ready to turn over that new leaf but looks around at the city, and you can watch the wheels turn in his head as the he decides to go back inside. Punchdrunk. Rummy. It didn't take long to whip him this round, and all his rounds are pretty much like this. But he doesn't quit, the fight is still in him. The rage is there, but the skill and conditioning is long gone, so are his chances. They can beat him, they could kill him but they don't bother. The thing is, you can knock him down but he won't stay down, and sometimes that's all it takes. Between the white port in the alley, working the onion fields and listening to the old boxers talking about their lives, you wonder just what he's really teaching his new protege', and why either one even bothers. It's called life. It's not much but it's all we get, so take a tip from an old pro and don't stay on the canvas. Susan Tyrell does a great job, deserved her Oscar nomination, but reminded me of too many former flames perched on that barstool. Hmmm. Perhaps I'm trapped in the same...whack! Ooof,I didn't see that one coming. Life keeps hitting me with so many lefts, I'm begging for a right. If you're able to extract inspiration from a movie filled with scenes from a very tough life, watch Fat City. If you're looking for something fluffy, ain't nothin' here but a scram. Take it on the arches, pal.

Boring...:
I know that this film is supposed to be a masterpiece, but I fail to see how anyone can interpret this film that way. I was surprised to see Jeff Bridges is such a boring film. I found that this film wandered too much in the beginning. I watched the first hour and noted that there was hardly any character or plot development! I found that the movie never really amounted to anything. I believe that this movie is not even worth renting! If someone can explain to me how they could interpret this movie as an excellent one, please feel free to e-mail me with an explaination, otherwise, my feelings towards this movie will stay the same. Addy : joekerrthejoker@hotmail.com

Almost the best movie about boxing!:
Not the most upbeat film, but absolutely remarkable. A gem from John Huston's later years. The whole cast does a spectacular job here-Stacy Keach, Susan Tyrell, Jeff Bridges and Candy Clark. The feeling this film leaves you with is a rare one and I just love it. An underapprecited masterpiece from a old master.