Fat City (1972)

My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 7

Most sports movies are about the 0.1% who achieve something extraordinary. Fat City is about the other 99+.

I’ve never really understood the sports mindset. I get being a casual fan. I get enjoying physical activity and the social element. But I don’t get the fantasy footballers who desperately need Chuba Hubbard to rack up yards, or the guys betting their paychecks on the Knicks winning by 14. I especially don’t understand the middle-aged men still clinging to glory days on their high school wrestling team.

That mindset is what Fat City explores. When deciding what to watch for the letter F-Fresh (2022) or Fat City-a friend said he got why I was leaning toward Fat City: “It’s gay.” I asked what he meant. He said the trailer was homoerotic. Queer-coded.

I went in cold, knowing only the premise and that comment. And honestly, I think he was onto something. John Huston seems genuinely fascinated by men who are drawn to other men but can’t quite articulate or even understand that desire.

“When I first saw you at the Y, I thought, ‘Now there’s a guy who is soft in the center.’ (beat) Never mind.”

Jeff Bridges plays a boxer everyone gravitates to-not for his skill, but for his movie star looks. A coach lies in bed, unable to stop praising him: “He’s good looking. He’s white. People like to see a white boy fight.” His wife pretends to be asleep. It’s hard not to read something queer in a middle-aged man fixating on a 19-year-old at 1 a.m.

Despite being quiet and subdued, the movie never feels dull. Every scene adds something. Each minute offers a new idea, another glimpse into the psychology of small-town people living in the past. There’s no wasted space here-just a deepening sense of melancholy.

Fat City received a single Oscar nomination: Supporting Actress for Susan Tyrrell, playing a hot mess of a drunk who can’t decide whether to accept the steak Stacy Keach cooks for her. But it’s Keach who anchors the film. His performance is the story-his expressions, his reactions, the silent things his character carries.

John Huston didn’t write this script, but his films always had an ear for natural, revealing dialogue. Fat City ranks among his very best in that regard.

9/10.