Fat Girls (2007)
Runtime: 83 mins
Theatrical Release: Nov 2, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Armed with biting humor and quirky sensibility, Rodney and his Rubenesque friend Sabrina are valiantly suffering through the indignity known as high school. Both are outcasts; he’s gay and she’s overweight. Trapped in a small Texas town and having come to accept his "fat girl" within,... Armed with biting humor and quirky sensibility, Rodney and his Rubenesque friend Sabrina are valiantly suffering through the indignity known as high school. Both are outcasts; he’s gay and she’s overweight. Trapped in a small Texas town and having come to accept his "fat girl" within, Rodney is an aspiring Broadway star who musters up the energy to confront his fears and take life – and the hot new student from England – by the horns. With Rodney’s awkward experiences, off-beat attitude and strange evangelical family, "Fat Girls" is a hilarious rollercoaster ride that careens to an outrageous climax. This auspicious debut announces the arrival of filmmaker and star Ash Christian as a major new talent. -- © Regent Releasing [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Ash Christian, Jonathan Caouette, Robin De Jesus, Ashley Fink, Deborah Theaker
Screenwriter: Ash Christian
Producer: Ash Christian, Kim Fishman, Kelli Lerner
Composer: Chris Gubisch
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Amateurish to distraction, this modern-day satire about growing up gay in a small town has such a minimal pulse that you may well wonder if first-time writer/director/actor Ash Parish didn't burn his script before shooting began.
Big-hearted and often quite funny if crudely made, Fat Girls cleverly subverts the clichés of high school comedies to serve an autobiographical story.
To call Christian's film unpolished is an understatement, since Rodney isn't a particularly engaging protagonist and Christian badly overuses his sulky voiceover.
A modestly impressive debut -- especially considering that writer/director Ash Christian was 21 when he made it -- this poignant comedy will appeal to anyone who vividly remembers what it's like to be a high school outcast.
Proof that straights have no monopoly on crass, lazy coming-of-age stories.
The film just keeps hammering away at the insight that conservatives are, like, totally twisted.
An abysmal little conceit wholly lacking in originality, wit or technical style.
The jokes aren't funny, the characters aren't interesting and the budget is obviously so low you can't help but wonder how they could afford songs by Air Supply and Spandau Ballet.
Fat Girls is fully in the "quirky indie" mold, populated by frumpy characters who sport slack expressions and enthuse about silly life plans.
Given Fat Girls' honesty, and its delicately drawn examples of social hopelessness, the sudden, sugary, puzzling finale feels out of character. It's as though the film forgot how to talk to us.
Fat Girls' portrait of its small town high school milieu feels immediate and authentic even when the story's perfunctory machinations don't.
Christian plays it cool, preferring to love his characters first, and use them as teaching tools second. The restraint is a refreshing change of pace.
Plays with the conventions of the teen genre while making the most of its low-budget indie roots
Jokes are hit-and-miss, but they splat target often enough to make this a guilty pleasure that homophile fans of both Napoleon Dynamite and American Pie might enjoy.
Pictures
News
posted by Tim Ryan November 01, 2007
This week at the movies, we've got crime lords (American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe),...


Top Critic