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Fat City

Play trailer Poster for Fat City PG 1972 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Washed-up boxer Tully (Stacy Keach) is inspired to restart his career after seeing potential in a teenager, Ernie (Jeff Bridges), whom he spars with at a gym. While Tully battles his past demons, including issues with alcohol, Ernie faces his own challenges. Pressured into marriage and sudden fatherhood by his girlfriend (Candy Clark), Ernie can shrug off his personal problems when he enters the ring. As both fighters continue with their bouts, Tully's star falls while Ernie's is on the rise.

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Fat City

Fat City

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Critics Consensus

Fat City is a bleak, mordant, slice of life boxing drama that doesn't pull its punches.

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Critics Reviews

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Walter Goodman New York Times 01/10/2018
A knockout scene by that grand old battler, John Huston. Go to Full Review
Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice 11/17/2015
The movie's bleak, but it's funnier than most comedies, and it suggests that life's toughness doesn't preclude joyfulness. Go to Full Review
David Thomson The New Republic 06/17/2013
So you say to yourself, this Fat City is pretty damn realistic, even if you know in your heart that "realistic" and Hollywood should not be printed on the same page-otherwise paper ignites. Still, you're marveling at it. Go to Full Review
Mitchell Beaupre Paste Magazine 09/23/2022
9/10
Fat City is about our need for companionship in the face of life’s ongoing adversities. Go to Full Review
Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com 03/03/2022
FOUR STARS
Boxing serves as an apt metaphor about fighting for survival under Capitalism with few resources or any real sense of hope. Go to Full Review
Sean Burns Crooked Marquee 01/14/2022
You have to get dinged around a bit by life before you can make a movie like 'Fat City', a film that dwells in disappointment without making a big deal about it. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Keith B. @Okbullard 2d Considering the very positive reviews I was pretty disappointed in how slow and bland this film was. I get it was a character study of an old boxer spiraling down in contrast to a young upcoming star but it was too muted and bland. I think of Raging Bull or Rocky as good boxing films. Don't be fooled like I was with the excellent reviews. 100% Hmmmm See more erroll F @Repok 4d This character study is essentially about losers & loneliness. Stacy Keach is suburb as Bill Tully a past his prime boxer who Wife has left him and is working in the fields bagging crops around Stockton California. After moving in with a bar floosy he decides to start fighting again. This John Huston directed film is dreary with wrong side of the tracks feel. Susan Tyrell is excellent as the impossibly disgusting alcoholic barfly. Young Jeff Bridges in a early role is OK as a kid who dreams big but gets KOed early on. This movie was made in the early 70s but still relevant today. See more thiago s @Thiagostone Sep 1 Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom, filme de boxe antes do lançamento do famoso filme de boxe do rocky de 1976. See more Wayne K @RT88290232 04/02/2024 Stacy Keach is a consistently slept on actor, a man who demonstrates incredible charisma and brings real gravitas to the roles he plays. I watched the film Roadgames from 1981, and he did a fantastic job in the leading role. Almost a decade earlier, he did the same in John Huston's Fat City. The story of an over-the-hill boxer who, unsurprisingly, tries to get back into the game, only to find it's much more arduous than it once was. It's a steadily placed, contemplative film that doesn't grandstand or speechify. Our lead faces challenge both personal and professional, and he deals with them in his own way, which isn't always the best way, and there's a palpable sense that he's really suffered because of his choices. A baby-faced Jeff Bridges plays the man that Keach once was, and seeing that reflection of himself is what ultimately sets him on a doomed path. There's a lot going on, and you're given time to process it, rather than just being heralded from one scene to the next. It's a movie I never hear getting mentioned, but at the time of release it was a hit. I just hope more people get round to discovering it, and it gets the recognition it deserves. See more Todd C @ilwacohawk 11/13/2023 Some don't consider this a sports movie, but I do. A really well-done character study of two different armature/professional boxers. It was also fun seeing "Coach (from Cheers) as the manager. It really is a sad and depressing look at the boxing life for those on the fringes. A great movie by one of the greats: John Huston. The movie felt realistic, not that I know what it is like to be a boxer. While it is depressing, it is also kind of sweet. A story about folks just trying to get through life as best they can. It is also about our need to have someone in life and being alone is hard. Fight scenes were pretty good. There was a lot of silence in the movie and in that silence a lot was said. The music by Kris Kristofferson was great and it really was beautiful to watch. I can say that I genuinely cared about all the characters. There really isn't a "bad-guy" in the fil. It is a slice of life. The ending was great....and abrupt. See more KEVIN C @RT21901671 02/15/2023 John Huston directed this early seventies film about people in the fight game in California. Stacy Keach plays a boxer on the tail end of his career looking to make ends meet while trying not to get lost in a bottle. Jeff Bridges plays a young fighter who's got plenty of potential and time. This is a really good character study of the two different guys on opposite paths Interesting film with very good performances from Keach as well as Susan Tyrell as a local barfly. See more Read all reviews
Fat City

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Movie Info

Synopsis Washed-up boxer Tully (Stacy Keach) is inspired to restart his career after seeing potential in a teenager, Ernie (Jeff Bridges), whom he spars with at a gym. While Tully battles his past demons, including issues with alcohol, Ernie faces his own challenges. Pressured into marriage and sudden fatherhood by his girlfriend (Candy Clark), Ernie can shrug off his personal problems when he enters the ring. As both fighters continue with their bouts, Tully's star falls while Ernie's is on the rise.
Director
John Huston
Producer
Ray Stark, John Huston
Screenwriter
Leonard Gardner
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Rastar Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 26, 1972, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
1h 36m