Heavy

"Victor" works in up state New York at a small bar/diner. He is painfully shy, depending to a great extent, on his mother's care and direction. A new waitress, played by Liv Tyler, is hired. Victor is charmed by her kindness and looks. Pruitt Taylor Vince gives a fine performance as "Victor". Shelley Winters plays Dolly, his mother. Debbie Harry is great as Delores, a co-worker who seems to have a chip on her shoulder. This movie tries to provide a meaningful character study and, for the most part, succeeds. I cared for the characters and felt that I knew them well. The problem is that Victor does not progress. He talks very little and I felt that the answers were very slow in coming. It was a frustration sometimes. Even so, Heavy provides us with a film that will stay with you. I gave it a 7 of 10. Good direction by and script by James Mangold. A memorable sound track that fits the film well.

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.

"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.

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.