| Heavy | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | James Mangold |
| Produced by | Richard Miller |
| Written by | James Mangold |
| Starring | Pruitt Taylor Vince Shelley Winters Liv Tyler Deborah Harry Joe Grifasi |
| Music by | Thurston Moore |
| Cinematography | Michael F. Barrow |
| Editing by | Meg Reticker |
| Distributed by | Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) |
| Release date(s) | December 29, 1995  June 5, 1996  |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Heavy is a 1995 independent drama film directed by James Mangold, and starring Liv Tyler, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Shelley Winters, and Deborah Harry. The plot focuses on an overweight, middle-aged man (Vince) whose life is forever changed after an enchanting, college-aged girl (Tyler) attains a waitress job at a roadside diner where he is employed by his mother (Winters). The film's themes include loneliness, false hope, unrequited love, and the problem of self worth.
Heavy was released at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995, and released in the United Kingdom in late December 1995. It was eventually given a theatrical release in the United States on June 5, 1996. It has since had several home video releases, including two DVD releases which are both currently out of production.
Some scenes were filmed at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, USA. The film was Mangold's debut for both writing and directing.
Contents |
The film begins at "Pete and Dolly's", a small roadside diner/tavern in upstate New York, where thirty-something-year-old Victor (Pruitt Taylor Vince) works as a cook under the employment of his mother, Dolly (Shelley Winters), the owner of the restaurant. Dolly spends most of her time sitting in a chair in the back of the kitchen, reminiscing of her late husband and prodding promiscuous waitress Delores (Deborah Harry), a lonely woman who has worked at the restaurant for fifteen years, and also had a meaningless affair with Dolly's husband.
But the same old routine and rhythm of the restaurant is changed when Dolly hires a new waitress, Callie (Liv Tyler); she is sweet, soft-spoken, and enchantingly beautiful; a college drop out, but nonetheless an ethereal creature that immediately catches the eye of the painfully shy, overweight Victor. Callie's presence in the diner complicates the lives of the rest of the employees, and even some of the local regulars, such as Leo (Joe Grifasi), an alcoholic friend of Delores and long-time customer of Dolly.
Victor's issues of self-esteem, stemming from his weight come to surface as he innocently longs for Callie, accompanied by a painful tragedy surrounding his mother which he desperately hides in order to keep his everyday life "the same"- but his life, nor anyone else's at the sleepy roadside tavern, will be the same again.
Following the film's release at Sundance, it garnered generally positive reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, and remarked the film's sense of realism in its characters and settings: "You've been in places like this. You linger over a second cup of coffee and people-watch, trying to guess the secrets of the sad-eyed waitress and the drunk at the bar and the pizza cook who looks like he's serving a sentence. You don't guess the true horror of the place, which is that there are no secrets, because everyone here knows all about everyone else, inside and out, top to bottom, and has for years."[1]
Critic James Berardinelli said of the film, "Mangold captures the nuances of life perfectly, and, by never cheapening his vision through facile resolutions, he fashions a memorable cinematic portrait."[2], while Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a small, quiet miracle of a movie in which tenderness, compassion and insight combine to create a tension that yields a quality of perception that's almost painful to experience."[3]
The internet film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as of 2009, has the film ranked at 84% fresh (or positive), with 24/28 reviews being in favor of the film.[4]
Director James Mangold won "Best Screenplay" and Grand Prix Asturias "Best Feature" at the Gijón International Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize for Directing at the Sundance Film Festival.
The soundtrack of the movie featured instrumental compositions by Thurston Moore among other songs, including The Connells' hit "'74 - '75".
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