Grungy without being sickening, and squalid without being vulgar - hardly anybody swears in this lowlife epic - Fat City is an impressive portrait of nominal losers who try to achieve some mild success as boxers, while fighting off the nagging pangs of worthlessness. Tully and Ernie are both good guys, undereducated but agreeable types who drift into boxing with modest ambitions. Forget the dimestore sentiment of Rocky: this is the real underside story.

Drifting on skid row, Tully encourages Ernie to seriously take up the ring, and even though he's an out-of-shape loser, gives it another try himself. This gives us a good look at the show's brightest character, Nicholas Colasanto's Ruben, a basement-level fights manager who nurtures, props up, protects and defends his 'boys', often getting up in the middle of the night to look after their problems. For young Ernie, this means trying to keep him focused (away from the temptations of his girlfriend) and helping him through the indignities of the ring. In his first bout, Ernie is winning until the opposition head-butts him. The ref doesn't catch it: Ernie loses and gets a broken nose for his trouble. Although perhaps too soft-looking to be a real boxer, Jeff Bridges in this early role makes a very amiable, believable nice guy.

Tully isn't mired in self-loathing but he does have a serious attitude problem. His commitment to his fighting fluctuates, and he goes on benders between sincere efforts to keep training. He calls himself a bum, but cheerfully works like a slave with the field pickers to earn a few dollars to keep going. Scarred and dulled by his bouts, he doesn't appreciate his only real friend, Ruben. For all the glory he seeks, when Tully does get his minor victory, he doesn't even know he's won, and the film suggests that he may now be permanently addled - 'punchy'. They don't have enough good roles for actors like Stacy Keach, but every time he got one he hit a home run, as he does here.

Ernie and Tully court women appropriate to their status in the boxing life. Young Ernie's makeout date Faye plays her cards right and lands herself a husband with a very iffy future. Candy Clark is impressive in the role, which surely helped write her ticket for the next year's American Graffiti. Tully gets his woman on the rebound, almost literally a loan-out while her steady is in prison. On this level of relationship neither male can affort to invest his ego; both know they're expendable.

Susan Tyrell attracted almost as much attention as the male stars in this picture - she's truly unique among screen barflies, and probably convinced everyone back in '72 that she was the real thing. With really lousy hair and a flushed, shiny face, Tyrell talks in this thin but raspy voice that sounds painful - it varies between 2 or 3 different, grating whines. Found abandoned in a bar, she attracts interest well enough, but the few glimpses we see of their domestic arrangement aren't much of a testimonial to her - she becomes argumentative without provocation, even when sharing a simple meal. Poor Tully eventually finds his clothes handed to him in a box - just like the last guy.

Columbia TriStar's DVD of Fat City has a very handsome hi-def transfer from elements in perfect condition. There are both enhanced widescreen and flat fullscreen transfers, and the only extra is a trailer.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Fat City rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Trailer
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: December 20, 2002