Boxing is a surprisingly popular subject for movies. I don't have to present you the "Rocky" movies of course, but there were plenty of other (and in my opinion also better ones) than those movies. Think for instance of "Raging Bull", but also "The Hurricane" and "Ali". "Fat City", I hadn't heard of before. I guess it's a movie that isn't able to compete in this genre, because it doesn't present the life of a famous boxer, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth a watch of course.
"Fat City" is a story about two boxers. One of them, Tully, is at the end of his career when he meets an 18-year old, called Ernie, for the first time in a gym. He asks him to be his sparring partner and soon is convinced about the boy's quality as a boxer. He tells Ernie to go see his former trainer, who will certainly lead him to the top. But inside as well as outside the ring, both men have a lot of problems...
What I liked most about this movie was that it took its time to develop the characters. This weren't just two men who have a family that doesn't mean much to them and who only think about using another guy's head as a punching ball. No, this movie shows their difficulties in their personal lives and the reasons why they aren't so successful in their careers. Still, that wasn't always enough to make me forget about certain flaws. Especially Oma didn't always look very convincing. She more or less gave me the feeling of being a caricature and that's not a good thing. On the other hand I must also say that I admire the fact that they didn't use any great stunts, big explosions, car chases,... This is old school cinema in which the story and the characters are still important. I wish they would make more movies like that nowadays. I give it a score between 6.5/10 and 7/10.
"Fat City" is a story about two boxers. One of them, Tully, is at the end of his career when he meets an 18-year old, called Ernie, for the first time in a gym. He asks him to be his sparring partner and soon is convinced about the boy's quality as a boxer. He tells Ernie to go see his former trainer, who will certainly lead him to the top. But inside as well as outside the ring, both men have a lot of problems...
What I liked most about this movie was that it took its time to develop the characters. This weren't just two men who have a family that doesn't mean much to them and who only think about using another guy's head as a punching ball. No, this movie shows their difficulties in their personal lives and the reasons why they aren't so successful in their careers. Still, that wasn't always enough to make me forget about certain flaws. Especially Oma didn't always look very convincing. She more or less gave me the feeling of being a caricature and that's not a good thing. On the other hand I must also say that I admire the fact that they didn't use any great stunts, big explosions, car chases,... This is old school cinema in which the story and the characters are still important. I wish they would make more movies like that nowadays. I give it a score between 6.5/10 and 7/10.