Pastasciutta... amore mio!

I remember seeing Fatso for the first time in Madison, WI in 1980 and I thought it was a sad but funny movie. It was sad throughout several portions of the movie, including the opening scene when the DiNapoli family gathered at the funeral of cousin Sal, who died of obesity, motivating Dom's sister Antoinette (hysterically portrayed by Anne Bancroft in her movie debut as writer and director) to persuade him to make an appointment with the diet doctor.

Things go well until he threatens his brother (Ron Carey) with a knife and goes nuts and starts crying in self-pity and binges with his Chubby Checkers Sonny and Oscar. Meanwhile, things get back on track when he falls in love with Lydia, played by the lovely Candy Azzara but one day she's not home and Dom is so distraught so he eats a humongous order of Chinese food. Once again he wallows away in tears of self-pity. Once he finds out that Lydia is OK, things get back to normal, they get married and they live happily ever after.

There was one other scene that cracked me up. The scene where Dom bought a birthday cake for his nephew Anthony and he ate part of it, causing Antoinette to get hysterical and throw the cake around.

It's a shame that Dom DeLuise, who played Dom so well in his first starring role in a movie, Bancroft and Carey are gone. Fatso should be seen as a tribute to a fine and funny cast. Don't see it on an empty stomach.

Directed by the late Anne Bancroft, Fatso is as funny and humane as anything her very funny husband, Mel Brooks, directed. Bancroft evidently tapped into her Bronx background for this story of an Italian American, played sympathetically by Dom DeLuise, who runs a greeting card shop and is struggling with weight and shyness in courting a young women who opens an antique shop in the neighborhood. Bancroft plays his sister who is always nagging him about his weight (but does an hilarious dance with him in his shop) and there are many wonderful family scenes, especially the funeral near the beginning of the film of the hero's morbidly obese cousin who "always had something good to eat on him". A scene where DeLuise and his diet-support group ("Chubby Checkers") break out and go on an orgy of eating is alone worth the price of the movie. I watch this movie at least once a year and it never fails to give me great pleasure.

There are some real classic moments in this film. The hot dog scene where Dom looks at a beautiful girl, then back at the hot dog... in a mental fight that he can't win, he finally bites the hot dog. There are several classic moments and some are quite subtle, such as the scene where Lydia says the wrapping paper is "too gay" only to be glanced at by a man at the cash register. For people with an eating disorder, it will make you cry and laugh at the same time. For people who don't understand the addiction of food, it's an introduction into the dark world and troubles of being overweight. This is a real sleeper. Anne Bancroft does a splendid job of direction, and her character in the film is vivid, and colorful. This is a great film. I liked it a lot, and I have seen it about 5 times.

This may not be an amusing look at the dark side of eating to someone with a disorder but I roared with glee at Don's antics as the frustrated food addict. It was done from a comedy angle of course, but Don's big Chinese binge was a sobering glimpse at how ugly this passion for food can be. Well worth seeing.

Fatso is running on Fox Movie Channel now as I write this. I feel compelled to add my appreciation for this sweet little movie that, as I recall, got creamed by many critics when it came out.

The pacing IS slow and the story (unlike the theme) slender. Nevertheless, this is a greatly under-appreciated movie. There are many, many funny scenes and lines that are equal to any from more celebrated comedies. The performances are all right on target, especially DeLouise and Bancroft.

I'm here to say you DON'T have to be Italian or from NY to appreciate the movie. However, if you've ever struggled with a diet, the movie will resonate with you more than if you're a lifelong skinny Minnie. You will not soon forget Dom DeLouise's heartbreak as he listens to a list of restricted foods recited by a severe-looking nurse in his diet doctor's office. Afterwards, when he has to pick up a birthday cake for his nephew, the camera lingers lovingly on the rows of luscious- looking pastries. His torment is palpable and very, very funny.

We in the U.S. live in the land of plenty. This is THE BEST movie about Americans and their unique--dare I say perverse?--relationship with food. And it's sweet, and funny. Really, really funny.