Fat

There have been very few films that have treated food addiction seriously, portraying with realism and sensitivity the struggles of the dangerously obese. FAT will therefore get attention simply for its subject matter. But what makes the film shine is its unusual combination of very dark drama and consistent character-driven humor. Imagine if REQUIEM FOR A DREAM were about food rather than drugs ... and was sometimes very funny.

The focus here is squarely on fat Ken (veteran TV actor Mel Rodriguez, excellent), but what makes the story work is his relationship with lifelong best friend Terry (improv comedy vet Jason Dugre). We witness Ken's downward spiral of self-sabotage, but he remains intensely sympathetic because we see him just often enough through Terry's eyes. There's no need to give us back story showing Ken when he was more pleasant to be around, because the person Ken used to be is implied by Terry's devotion to him. At the same time, the sometimes disturbing drama is made tolerable by their darkly comic give-and-take about Ken's travails. It's sharp screen writing, right down to an absolutely perfect ending.

The rest of the cast are largely first-timers; there are a couple of weak performances in small roles (the only thing that betrays the film's shoestring-budget origins), but Ashley Lauren is very solid and believable as a romantic interest and Kevin Patey a mild hoot as a filthy-minded (i.e., male) co-worker.

After debuting at TIFF two years ago, the movie has been re-cut and picked up for premieres in Boston (where I saw it as a member of the local art-house cinema that also had the Boston premieres of Black Mass and Spotlight) and LA, before going to VOD. I think it has a substantial chance to become a VOD hit for two simple reasons: there's never been a movie like this, and it's very, very good.