Hungry for Love

This is a movie that I almost didn't watch because it was to be about a fat pizza cook. After watching for thirty minutes, it was obvious that the movie was about the very sensitive feelings of someone who is over weight. The performance by Pruitt Taylor Vince was very impressive, and I felt if not winning an Academy Award, should have at least been nominated. Few actors can express as much without saying a word, as he did in this very powerful and touching movie.

An overweight cook who lives with and works for his mother, develops a crush on a young waitress who comes to work for their diner. However, what do you say when you're 30, overweight, have never gone anywhere, never kissed a girl, and rarely speak more than three words a day? Not everyone will get this movie. Having said that, it's a work of beauty. A simple story line, with minimal drama, dealing with a situation that could happen to anyone, except that it happens with someone who is unable to express himself. The simple pulse of this movie beats and builds slowly, and doesn't sweep you away, but leaves you to contemplate life in someone else's shoes. Excellent cinematography, a haunting original score by Thurston Moore, and a story that's so fresh simply because of it's ordinary nature.

We need more films like this. I was disappointed to find that James Mangold has since gone on to write and direct some movies, which are quite overblown. However, this one was pragmatic and elegant.

I'm not sure what's more remarkable - the excellence of this movie, or the fact that it could have come and gone in 1995 with so little broad notice, then or in the years since. It's a quiet, uncomplicated film, with no great drama beyond what may transpire in the average person's life. Yet it's endearing in that simplicity, and a marvel in consideration of all the pieces that come together to produce it. 'Heavy' isn't a masterpiece, but it's a wonderful picture that deserves to be seen much more.

Just look at the names involved: A cast helmed by Pruitt Taylor Vince, Liv Tyler, Shelley Winters, Deborah Harry. Music by Thurston Moore. The first feature of accomplished film-maker James Mangold, as writer or director. Moreover, 'Heavy' got strong attention at major film festivals upon release, and it's no wonder why; for all the low-key modesty and the clarity of vision, this is a fantastic movie.

Major themes stand out of self-confidence, loneliness, depression, and unreciprocated affection. Well before obesity and fatphobia became hot-button topics, the film touches on these notions through the personal struggles of protagonist Victor (Vince). Through it all, there's no small sense of awkwardness as we bear witness to the character drama playing out. The end result is a picture that's pointedly uncomfortable, and somewhat difficult for that reason - yet all the more rewarding.

It's so entrancing that before we know it 'Heavy' is half over, then three-quarters. It helps that the cast is so outstanding. That goes for Harry, as Dolores, a woman tired of dealing with other people, and Winters, as Dolly, personable and forthright. Tyler, as Callie, demonstrates a nuance and range that other parts have not wholly allowed her to express. Callie is a complicated character, with a laundry list of personal issues that could be the basis for a feature film all by themselves, and Tyler manages that complexity deftly. Yet it's Vince, as Victor, who stars as a man silently at war with himself over his desires and perceived inadequacies. Vince contains multitudes in his unmistakable gaze, and communicates as much in his expressions if not more than in his dialogue. Commonly seen in supporting roles, it's good to watch him in the lead here.

Even given moments of sudden noise or emotional outburst, this is a film that's very subdued in tone, much more about the characters than a robust narrative, or technique. Yet in that focus it's easy to become absorbed with the marvelous screenplay Mangold concocted, and the scenes he orchestrates. One can see traces of his later films in the knack for personal crisis that he began to develop here, and it's a pleasure to watch.

Once more - I think this came and went with far too little fanfare upon release, probably in no small part on account of the filmmaker's lack of reputation at that time. That said, it's a mistake to not check out 'Heavy' now if one has the chance, because this is a superb drama filled with great character and performances, and I'd be hard-pressed not to recommend it to just about anyone.

"Heavy" focuses on Victor Modino, an overweight, thirty-something cook who lives a quiet life running a roadhouse with his mother in upstate New York. His small world is turned upside down when Callie, a beautiful, kind young woman, comes to work in the restaurant. What ensues is a rich intersection of emotion, yearning, and ennui between the cast of characters running the establishment.

Perhaps one of the most underrated (and under-viewed) films of the 1990s, "Heavy" is a quiet, small film that pulls the emotional strings of the audience with a gentleness that is endearing and that manages to avoid erring into unabashed pathos. The protagonist, brilliantly acted by Pruitt Taylor Vince, is a man of few words, riddled with buried insecurity and social anxiety. Playing opposite Vince is a fresh-faced Liv Tyler, appearing as an unassuming, genuine young woman attempting to find her footing in the world. The emotional core of the film lay between these two characters, and both Vince and Tyler play them with precise skillfulness. Debbie Harry is equally impressive as a cynical longtime waitress, while Shelley Winters turns in a characteristically eccentric performance as the ailing matriarch of the restaurant.

What is perhaps most staggering about "Heavy" is that it rings eerily true to the locale in which it is set. The characters each feel like people we've seen in real life in anywhere, USA--small town ,working class people facing off their demons and failed aspirations. Director James Mangold (in his feature debut) captures a restlessness in each that is authentic, and the narrative is supported by atmospheric cinematography and a lush, sometimes unearthly score by Thurston Moore.

Some audiences seeking emotional (or literal ) fireworks may be bored to death by it, but for cinema lovers who appreciate character portraits and feelings of places, "Heavy" is an absolute gem. It's a quiet, small film full of quiet, small moments, but each of them have a ring of truthfulness that is difficult to ignore. Mangold manages to string these moments together with grace, leaving us an authentic, sparse narrative that still manages to uplift without drenching us in syrupy poignancy. Each of his characters, as embittered as they might be, are not entirely forsaken. 10/10.

This movie had a lot of potential. The biggest issue I have with it is the main character seems to have more going on mentally than being overweight. The writing is not effective at showing us what this is. He hardly talks and has trouble being around people. They should have done a better job showing he was either on the spectrum or had some trauma to explain his odd behavior. The acting is fine but the story lacks depth in many of the subplots. There are too many holes in the story and by the end you are left with a feeling of disgust. At the main character and all other characters in the film.