Pastasciutta... amore mio!

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.

The very sad thing about many good movies is that they not only couldn't be made today, they can't be openly enjoyed without criticism. In Fatso, an overweight man is repeatedly harangued by his sister until he joins Overeaters Anonymous to curb his appetite. Anne Bancroft actually screams at him and hits him, calling him 'fatso' and saying he's going to die if he doesn't stop. Ever since the 'big is beautiful' campaign, it isn't socially acceptable to talk about being overweight that way. And, since American obesity has been steadily increasing through the years and decades, when you go back and watch Fatso, Dom DeLuise doesn't look nearly as overweight as he did in 1980. It's very unfortunate that this movie, obviously created with love, would be raked over the coals if viewed by modern audiences.

This movie is Anne Bancroft's baby; she wrote, directed, and co-stared as the concerned sister. She didn't make this movie to shame overweight people or laugh at them. She made it to show how hard it is to change your mindset when it's in your blood to overeat. In the beginning, we see a typical Italian family, who believe wholeheartedly that food is love, teaching their infant son to drown his unpleasant feelings in food. Feeling full is comforting, and when you've been taught that response since before you can talk, it's nearly impossible to change. From Anne's character's point of view, she's worried and frustrated that her brother is killing himself by overeating. When she slaps him and tells him he has to stop, she's reacting the say any other concerned family member would react if her brother were hooked on drugs or alcohol. If you're able to view overeating in that same vein, you'll be able to fully appreciate this movie. If you can't shake your modern goggles off, or you have no concept of the Italian culture, you're not ready for Fatso yet.

As did Red Skelton in his time, Dom DeLuise has a very sweet on-screen persona. He's the kind of guy you'd trust your kids to.

Anne Bancroft, a multi-talented lady sorely missed, wrote and directed a picture here on a topic not ever before focused on, overeating. Given that the US has become the fattest country on earth and the most obsessed with weight loss, it's surprising no filmmaker has ever taken the topic on the way they have drugs or drinking or racism. Maybe it's just too close to home.

The funny thing is that DeLuise himself, unlike some of the bit players in the picture, is not all that fat, seriously chubby, to be sure, not bathing suit material, but not really obese. Never mind. He's told he is and thinks he is and has a hell of a confused and guilty time with it. "Why does everybody want me to be skinny?" he asks himself. "I'm not such a bad guy."

The "message," that love conquers all shortcomings, including gluttony, is a little pat and predictable. But it would be churlish to come down hard on such a well-meaning, well- written, well-directed and well-played comedy. Catch it when you can.

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.

Wow! Fatso's are people too! What a concept!!! This isn't the best movie I've ever seen. In fact, finding an audience for it is difficult in a largely overweight society. Since most are in denial, who would want to be seen waiting to get into the theater? It is, however, presented as sympathetic and is good for alot of laughs along the way.

Particularly funny is the scene where Dom's "chubby checker" is talking him down from starting an over-eating binge. Lines like, "did you ever suck the jelly out of a jelly doughnut, fill it with reese cups and melt it in the oven?", as they weaken, are priceless. Especially, when a panicky Ron Carey (who has chained the refrigerator shut), is told repeatedly and threateningly to "bring the honey, junior" (for their tea). The resulting chaos is hilarious.

It's safe to rent this one. No one will see you. And it is a cute little movie......