Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

betty dalton Jeff Bridges is young and charming in this movie about an upcoming boxer who meets another boxer (Stacey Keach) who is going down the drain. First I expected it to be a standard boxer movie portraying a young man who was going to make it big. But soon I discovered this movie was about losing. About drunks and has beens. Depressing. But not so depressing that it isnt great to watch Stacey Keach perform a drunk so well. Another actress got nominated for an oscar, but it should have been Stacey Keach who really deserved an oscar. Never seen an actor perform a drunk so well. Almost couldnt believe that Keach was actually acting sometimes, because he looks so wasted and completely lost.John Huston directed Fat City in a documentary kind of style. The photography resembles a real life look in the run down bars and boxing halls. Real life bums and poor people are being used as extras. It is depressing. Boring sometimes. But still fascinating because of its bleakness and so real life portrayals of everyday people.My only criticism of this movie is that there is a romantic subplot with a woman that kinda slows down the movie in the middle. There is definitely a lack of action in the middle. But hey, that is the life this drunk is leading. Nothing happens except for another night with booze. And another... And if you can stumach a movie about losers who are going nowhere than you can appreciate this movie as much as I did. Because the photography and the acting are way up there, really excellent. And the characters portrayed are loveable because of their vulnerabilities.

Jon Corelis 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. The Sony Home Entertainment DVD is of acceptable quality, but this film really needs to be remastered and put on Blu-Ray.

Jackson Booth-Millard I knew this film was one listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I didn't know anything else about the film besides this, this was good enough reason for me to try it, directed by John Huston (The Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Man Who Would Be King). Basically at a gym in Stockton, California, past his prime boxer Billy Tully (Stacy Keach) meets eighteen-year-old Ernie Munger (Jeff Bridges), they getting into shape and spar with each other. Tully sees potential in young Ernie, he suggests he looks up his former manager and trainer Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto), he tells about how impressed he is with the kid to aggressive barfly Oma Lee Greer (Oscar nominated Susan Tyrrell) and her easygoing boyfriend Earl (Curtis Cokes), Tully is newly inspired and keen to get back in the ring himself. Ever since his wife left him Tully's life has been a mess, he drinks too much and cannot hold down a job, he picks fruit and vegetables to make ends meet, he still blames Ruben for mishandling his last fight. Earl is sent to prison for a few months, this allows Tully to try moving in with Ola, but the relationship between them is rocky. Munger loses his first fight and gets his nose broken, he is knocked out in his second fight as well, Munger gets forced into marrying Faye (Candy Clark) when she becomes pregnant, he starts picking fruit himself to make some money. In his first fight back in the ring, Tully fights against tough Mexican boxer Lucero (Sixto Rodriguez), he is much older and in considerable pain, they knock each other out before Tully is declared the winner, but his celebration is brief as he is only paid $100. Tully ends his business partnership with Ruben, he then returns to Oma's apartment, Earl is there and still paying the rent, Earl assures him that alcoholic Oma wants nothing to do with Tully anymore. One night, Munger is returning home from a fight, he finds Tully drunk in the street, he tries to ignore him, but he reluctantly agrees to go for a coffee with Tully. The two men sit and drink, Tully has sees strange things while looking at all the people around him, he almost breaks down with how his career is failing while Munger's is progressing, Munger tells him he should leave, but Tully wants to stay and talk some more, they continue to sit and drink coffee in silence. Also starring Art Aragon as Babe, Sixto Rodriguez as Lucero, Billy Walker as Wes, Wayne Mahan as Buford and Ruben Navarro as Fuentes. Keach (whose part was originally offered to Marlon Brando) is good as the prize-fighter going down in the dumps, and Bridges does well as the young contender on the rise, their rocky relationship certainly creates some tension, most boxing movies have more fights, full of blood, sweat and tears, this film focuses more on the hardships on the career side of it, it is slow at times, but overall an interesting enough sports drama. Good!

bkoganbing Fat City has deservedly taken its place among the fine films about boxing that Hollywood has done. It most closely resembles Requiem For A Heavyweight and you get double the entertainment because it's about two boxers in that division whose prospects for success are limited.Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges meet at a YMCA gym. Keach a heavyweight who has seen better days was a good prospect to go all the way, but he married the wrong woman who drained him dry and left him. But Keach is a glutton for punishment and he's taken up with Susan Tyrell who is mesmerizing when she's on the screen. Not that the prospects are good for him to hold out for something better, he's no prize either.But Keach sends Bridges to his former manager Nicholas Colosanto and he also joins them. Bridges has never had a professional fight, but he's clean cut, all American and white. He might be a good draw if he can learn to fight. His debut isn't promising. And he and wife Candy Clark face the problems of all newlyweds.The air of sadness that hangs around Fat City is that the audience knows full well these guys aren't going anywhere. Keach gets matched with a similar over the hill heavyweight played nicely by Sergio Rodriguez. He barely outlasts him and while the little entourage is celebrating this beginning of a comeback, we see Sergio leave the arena alone as the lights turn out after him. Very effectively staged by John Huston.The highlight of Fat City is Susan Tyrell who as TCM was showing this film as its prime time feature was reported to have passed away. What an incredible performance as a down and out alcoholic. She received the only Oscar recognition for Fat City as she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Boxing fans will appreciate the realistic approach Fat City takes in regard to the sport. Others of us will just like the great performances and realistic filming that typifies Fat City.