Fat Girls (2006)

28% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(2,814 ratings)

Two misfits struggle to make their way through the living hell that is high school in this independent comedy drama. Rodney (Ash Christian) lives in a small Texas town where most folks don't have much use for musical theater or much understanding of the gay lifestyle. Since the barely closeted… More Two misfits struggle to make their way through the living hell that is high school in this independent comedy drama. Rodney (Ash Christian) lives in a small Texas town where most folks don't have much use for musical theater or much understanding of the gay lifestyle. Since the barely closeted Rodney wants little else besides a boyfriend and the leading role in a Broadway show, this doesn't make life easy for him, and he has only one close friend -- Sabrina (Ashley Fink), a smart and funny girl who happens to weigh nearly three hundred pounds. Sabrina encourages Rodney to embrace his inner "fat girl," and he finds someone who understands his dreams when he strikes up a friendship with Mr. Cox (Jonathan Caouette), the school's drama coach, who also does a mean Liza Minnelli impersonation in his spare time. Written and directed by leading man Ash Christian when he was only 20 years old, Fat Girls was screened in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Ash Christian
Written By: Ash Christian
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 28, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Feb 12, 2008
Studio: Regent Releasing

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Too crudely executed to make much of an impact.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Ends up stranded between two concepts.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Big-hearted and often quite funny if crudely made, Fat Girls cleverly subverts the clichés of high school comedies to serve an autobiographical story.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
A modestly impressive debut -- especially considering that writer/director Ash Christian was 21 when he made it -- this poignant comedy will appeal to anyone who vividly remembers what it's like to be a high school outcast.
Abigail Deutsch, Village Voice
Given Fat Girls' honesty, and its delicately drawn examples of social hopelessness, the sudden, sugary, puzzling finale feels out of character. It's as though the film forgot how to talk to us.
Dennis Harvey, Variety
Jokes are hit-and-miss, but they splat target often enough to make this a guilty pleasure that homophile fans of both Napoleon Dynamite and American Pie might enjoy.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Amateurish to distraction, this modern-day satire about growing up gay in a small town has such a minimal pulse that you may well wonder if first-time writer/director/actor Ash Parish didn't burn his script before shooting began.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
To call Christian's film unpolished is an understatement, since Rodney isn't a particularly engaging protagonist and Christian badly overuses his sulky voiceover.
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
Proof that straights have no monopoly on crass, lazy coming-of-age stories.
Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine
The film just keeps hammering away at the insight that conservatives are, like, totally twisted.
David Noh, Film Journal International
An abysmal little conceit wholly lacking in originality, wit or technical style.
Geoff Berkshire, Metromix.com
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.
Noel Murray, AV Club
Fat Girls is fully in the "quirky indie" mold, populated by frumpy characters who sport slack expressions and enthuse about silly life plans.
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
Fat Girls' portrait of its small town high school milieu feels immediate and authentic even when the story's perfunctory machinations don't.
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com
Christian plays it cool, preferring to love his characters first, and use them as teaching tools second. The restraint is a refreshing change of pace.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Plays with the conventions of the teen genre while making the most of its low-budget indie roots

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

This one is hard to find, I got mine from Net Flix, it wasn't the movie I was looking for but watched it anyway. Very factual with todays world, enjoyable, funny, and sad. Worth renting