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Fat Girls

Because the title 'Phat Girlz' was already taken

By Geoff Berkshire

November 2, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Texas teen Rodney Miller (Ash Christian, who also wrote, directed and co-produced) is a gay aspiring Broadway composer who feels like a total outcast. He identifies with his overweight best friend Sabrina (Ashley Fink), and considers himself a “fat girl” too. Despite their social status, both Rodney and Sabrina find dates for the “big dance” thanks to British punk Joey (Joe Flaten) and nerdy Cuban-refugee Rudy (Robin de Jesus).

Big question: Does the debut of 20-year-old first-time filmmaker Ash Christian herald the arrival of a major new talent?

Skip it: Amateurish to an extreme degree, even at a mercifully brief 82 minutes “Fat Girls” still feels like it drags on forever. The jokes aren’t funny, the characters aren’t interesting and the budget is obviously so low you can’t help but wonder how they could afford songs by Air Supply and Spandau Ballet.

Catch it: To see Sabrina get stuck while having sex in the front seat of a car. Or to see Rodney’s father drop dead while engaging in S&M foreplay with a dominatrix midget. Or to see Rodney’s mother portrayed as a painfully exaggerated Christian fundamentalist stereotype. Oh forget it, there’s just no reason to see this movie.

Bottom line: Although a few of the more dramatic scenes show some promise—and the film is considerably more generous towards its lead characters than the condescending “Napoleon Dynamite,” to which “Fat Girls” owes an obvious debt—Christian needs to seriously hone his skills before attempting another film.

Bonus: A perfect example of the film’s level of wit: Jonathan Caouette, of the cult favorite documentary “Tarnation,” plays a drama teacher named Seymour Cox.

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