Fat City

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Luke W Mar 22, 2019 this is an OK Story about boxing, but nothing to shout about

Anakin S Mar 17, 2019 Story about people who live job to job, drinking to forget their trouble, and either angry or sad because life sucks. The ending scene really hit home to me. Tully turns and watches the old men playing poker, and see's himself doing the same very soon. We all get old and we all wonder where it went. Good movie. See more

Hagrid S Jul 10, 2018 Great performances, especially Susan Tyrell, and great faded color photography. The downbeat story was slightly lost on me, though, since I've seen worse fates depicted on screen before. See more

George M Feb 28, 2017 A serious, powerfully acted drama from the 70s by John Huston, the predecessor of such films as Barfly. One of those powerful films about boxing where the focus is not boxing itself but rather the life of boxers which in many cases is more interesting than their boxing achievements. See more

Albus S Aug 7, 2016 For a prize fighter, winning is everything, but if you're a loser when you climb into the ring, you're still going to be a loser when you come out, even if you KO your opponent. Such might be the moral of this very atypical sports movie, starring Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges as aspiring fighters in the lower echelons of the boxing game in and around Stockton, California. John Huston was one of the most commercially and popularly successful of mainstream Hollywood directors, making such major classics as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The African Queen, yet most film historians and critics have been reluctant to rank him among the best cinematic artists. Fat City makes it hard to see why: this gritty, realistic film is one of those great films which surprises you by how much more it seems like real life than like a movie. Keach and Bridges both give what may be their best performances, and Susan Tyrrell, an actress better known for stage work, gives an unforgettable performance as an alcoholic barfly, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, and she should have won. Fat City is not at all a typical sports film, which by Hollywood convention must show a hero overcoming early difficulties to rise to stardom, nor is it really about boxing, though it includes an extended fight scene which may be the best ever included in a Hollywood film -- the fact that Huston was a prize fighter himself in his youth no doubt adds to the authenticity of the prize ring atmosphere. But this is a film about people, very flawed people who manage to hold onto some shreds of integrity and to be kind to one another, despite the fact that they are all in their own desperate situation. The atmosphere of the seedy towns and endless fields of California's Central Valley, a rare location for major films, is portrayed with great vividness and accuracy. All in all, not a fun film, but an unforgettable one. See more

Harry W Oct 7, 2012 Most of the movie was fine, but a bit overplayed. However, in the beginning when you see the old boxer going up against a youngin', I couldn't help but sympathize with old boxer having been great and only being a has been now. That part will stick with me. 1001 movies to see before you die. See more

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Fat City

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