critics consensus

Fat City is a bleak, mordant, slice of life boxing drama that doesn't pull its punches. Read critic reviews

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Fat City Photos

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Movie Info

Washed-up boxer Tully (Stacy Keach) is inspired to restart his career after seeing potential in a teenager, Ernie (Jeff Bridges), whom he spars with at a gym. While Tully battles his past demons, including issues with alcohol, Ernie faces his own challenges. Pressured into marriage and sudden fatherhood by his girlfriend (Candy Clark), Ernie can shrug off his personal problems when he enters the ring. As both fighters continue with their bouts, Tully's star falls while Ernie's is on the rise.

Rating:

PG
Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

John Huston
Producer:

Ray Stark, John Huston
Writer:

Leonard Gardner
Release Date (Theaters):

Jul 26, 1972 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Apr 16, 2012
Runtime:

1h 36m
Production Co:

Rastar Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Cast & Crew

Stacy Keach
Tully

Jeff Bridges
Ernie

Susan Tyrrell
Oma

Candy Clark
Faye

Nicholas Colasanto
Ruben

Art Aragon
Babe

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Critic Reviews for Fat City

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (24)

A knockout scene by that grand old battler, John Huston.

January 10, 2018 | Full Review…

Walter Goodman
New York Times
The movie's bleak, but it's funnier than most comedies, and it suggests that life's toughness doesn't preclude joyfulness.

November 17, 2015 | Full Review…

Alan Scherstuhl
Village Voice
So you say to yourself, this Fat City is pretty damn realistic, even if you know in your heart that "realistic" and Hollywood should not be printed on the same page-otherwise paper ignites. Still, you're marveling at it.

June 17, 2013 | Full Review…

David Thomson
The New Republic
Huston and his performers give the material an elating, transcendental verve, especially during the sequences in which words fail the characters and interminable silences take over.

November 17, 2011 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Keith Uhlich
Time Out
A terse, sharp, downbeat but compassionate look at the underside of smalltown American life in the west.

January 29, 2010 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
The movie is crafty work and very much a show. In one way or another, right down to the percussively abrupt open ending, it's all about being hammered.

September 15, 2009 | Full Review…

J. Hoberman
Village Voice
With Leonard Gardner adapting his own book and John Huston sitting in the director's chair, Fat City adheres closer to real life than reel life, painting a portrait of a downtrodden existence not only among the have-nots but among the never-will-haves.

November 19, 2020 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The fight sequences are the best I've seen. But it is the acting, the feeling for character, which makes this film so extraordinarily different.

January 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Robert Sullivan
Los Angeles Free Press
In addition to the splendid cinematography, along with the songs that animate the soundtrack, the acting is outstanding. [Full Review in Spanish]

July 23, 2019 | Full Review…

Jesús Fernández Santos
El Pais (Spain)
Huston rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a camera, and dived head-first into Gardner's unapologetic pessimism...what resulted was one of the finest films of his career.

December 28, 2018 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…

Nathanael Hood
The Retro Set
Both an extraordinarily realistic look at the bottom rungs of the fight game and a moving exploration of the human condition.

January 29, 2010 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide
Fat City is most notable for terrific performances all around, especially those of Stacy Keach, Susan Tyrell, and a baby-faced Jeff Bridges.

August 30, 2009 | Rating: 61/00 | Full Review…

Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

View All Critic Reviews (24)

Audience Reviews for Fat City

Aug 23, 2012

The one consistent theme in all of John Huston's work is perpetual loss -- how it affects, and defines, people. There may not be a more cogent example of this than in his "comeback" film, Fat City, an observant and understated study of desperation and marginalization. It's a shame that Stacy Keach's film career never materialized (though he's had a good run in TV) because he is sensational here. If nothing else, this underrated film is worth seeking out for Conrad Hall's cinematography alone. He has done nothing but brilliant work in his career, but Fat City may be his finest hour.

Jonathan H Super Reviewer
Jun 11, 2009

a really good and gritty drama that must contain the performance of stacy keach's career. he plays a washed up fighter pushing 30 who meets young jeff bridges on his way up. and just who the hell is susan tyrell? i wanted to slap her in every scene. outstanding performance. it's a downer but a beautifully done and pretty much forgotten huston film from the 70's which was something of a comeback film for him. huston was a fighter in his younger days and so was the scriptwriter who adapted his own novel. they knew enough to get the details right. i loved the scenes where the trainers go on about the injuries they've seen.

Stella D Super Reviewer
Jul 11, 2007

John Huston's pictures are humane. All he had was sympathy and respect for those men and women born losers, survivors, ordinary people with struggles, sacrifices, constant boredom, values, cares, hopes, little but fruitful victories, plus scattered and rare but strong connections between them, that help to make it through each day. Here was accomplished another masterful allegory of life through boxing. Poetry with no need of words.

Pierluigi P Super Reviewer
Apr 28, 2007

Good boxing film with great performances. The script was weak, but the plot srong. It was starting to become a genius film, but left me incomplete. Of course the ending was well made and directed, but turned out to be unappropriate. 59/100

Edgar C Super Reviewer