Phat Girlz

Phat Girls was fricken funny. It was full of good jokes and Mo'Nique is a charming comedic lead. A romantic comedy is not supposed to be Shakespeare. It's supposed to be cute and light and usually formulaic, which this movie was. Given that, the story took on a social issue and made it entertaining, humorous and totally watchable. If you can't crack a smile or allow yourself at least one belly laugh while viewing this movie, then you're probably the problem, not Mo'Nique.

The problem with this movie is, that next to fact that has almost no laugh-out-loud-scenes, the protagonist of the movie, the Phat Mo'nique is all but likable. Yes, she's fat, hasn't been laid in 8 months, gets comments thrown at her head (which she can reply to) but that would make you think she herself would not make the mistakes other people make by judging her by her weight. Unfortunately, Mo'nique only likes men who are extremely handsome and have gone to the gym a lot. Next to that everybody who is thin is referred to as a skinny bitch, and if that girl happens to be white and have a black boyfriend it's even more terrifying according to Mo'nique as "they are stealing their men" She's constantly judging people by the way they look.

And we have to root for this woman.

So no humor and no likable lead-character makes this movie a bad one in my opinion.

Jazmin Biltmore (Mo'Nique) is an overweight, sassy woman who dreams to be a fashion designer. Her life is miserable because "no one loves fat people". But than she wins a trip to Miamie. She brings her uptight best friend (Kendra C. Johnson) and her perfect, skinny cousin (Joyful Drake). While there, she meets a perfect man (Jimmy Jean-Louis) from Nigeria, where the bigger the woman, the more they love her.

My oh my! This was VERY hypocritical! First off, she complains that guys only want perfect girls, and than she has pictures of almost-nude perfect men on her walls and dreams of hunky, almost nude men in her dreams! Secondly, she complains that people make fun of her and are rude to her just because she's fat, but than her and all the Nigerians make fun of her cousin just because she's skinny.

It looks like it was filmed on someone's home portable camera. Most of the actors cannot act for their life. BUT- it is not ALL horrible! There are some funny scenes! There are some (surprisingly) touching scenes! I am no way a fan of this, but I think that many, many other horrible films deserve the honor of worst film ever, not this.

I know I am vastly in the minority on this decree, but I found this movie to be hilarious. I admit it was very poorly done and the film itself was unprofessional, and definitely nowhere near a masterpiece, but hey, it's just good fun and not meant to wow the audience. I laughed my tail off at some of the jokes, because it is a really funny movie, and even though it could have been a lot better, it was enjoyable, entertaining and overall a very cute and fun movie to watch. Mo'Nique is really a joy and steals the show, whereas everyone else just tags along for the ride. The plot was warming, even if it had plot holes, and I was entertained thoroughly from beginning to end.

It's getting way too much unfair treatment, as do a lot of movies on IMDb, and people just really need to open their eyes to all of them on here, because the ratings and comments on many, including this one, are ridiculous. Overall, it was a bad movie, but not in the sense of, "Oh my gosh, this is absolutely terrible." I totally enjoyed it and found it to be a really neat little movie in the end, and think that all the haters should rethink just a bit, because Mo'Nique is proving that BIG is beautiful.

I had been dying to see Phat Girlz when it came out on DVD, but when I saw the incredible low rating on IMDb, I was just afraid of being disappointed and feeling like I wasted my time and money. But one of my friends had the movie and we watched it today and I have to say to the IMDb users, how was this movie bottom 100 bad? No, this had no Oscar worthy material and some of it was a bit silly, but I think that this film had a positive message. One of the most disturbing things I have seen on the IMDb reviews and boards are how this movie "promotes" obesity, when I don't see that at all, this film was just about accepting yourself and feeling good and confident in a world where being a "phat" girl is so unacceptable and makes them feel like the minority. Monique had a positive energy, at times I admit she could be over the top and annoying, but I didn't find her character to be horrible, but actually more believable.

Jazmin is a big girl in a small girl's world where she can't find any hot clothing for her size and wishes to help other big girls feel beautiful and sexy. But she is ignored and criticized for her outgoing personality and her plump figure. She wins a trip to the Carrabean Islands with her thin cousin and her other plump friend. There she meets and incredibly handsome doctor who loves her figure and finds big women to be very attractive and helps her realize that maybe with a little confidence she could be on top of the world and smile with her killer fashion designs.

I lost a lot of weight, I used to be a "phat" girl, so I think that's why I enjoyed the film somewhat, because I could relate. Besides that, this was just an average comedy that people are taking way too seriously. I think if you let go and just have some fun, you'll like the film, just ignore the ignorant people who are just hating this film because there are big women in it, it's just a cute romantic comedy with a positive message.

5/10