Customer Reviews

Heavy (1995) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Contrary to the other reviewer for this DVD, I think this movie is brilliant. It does, in fact, focus on the main character who is indeed letting life pass him by as he does... nothing. But that's the whole point of the movie! To draw you into this young man's life and maybe understand just why he feels powerless over the things that happen to him, and how by meeting this lovely young woman who seems to show (gasp!) an interest in him, he slowly starts to "wake up" and realize that he can indeed change his life and make it better, that he has the power to do so, and by the end of the film, he's well on his way to his new and joyful life. It shows how you sometimes have to leave things behind in order to grow and make your life one worth living. Yes, this movie has some slow moments, but that's the overall feeling of the main character's life, and the movie must reflect that. Again, I thought this movie is brilliant and I wish more people knew about it and could appreciate it.

Well, this one was a big let-down. I expected more, because really, the movie starts out pretty interesting. The acting is decent, and Liv does a good job, as usual, but the story is lacking, thin and immensely uninteresting. As it goes along, nothing really happens. And then I really mean nothing. The story is bad. There's no interesting character development, nor are there any interesting events, no intrigues. Nothing. Too much time is spent focusing on the obese main character, who constantly frustrates you with his complete inability to do anything or make something happen at all. Even the few "dialogues" in the movie (that could have helped develop the story and characters) are halted by the fact that the main character never opens his mouth (in fact monologues is a better word to use here). As the story goes on, we see many openings for things to happen and characters and plot to develop, but due to the total impotency of the main character, you are constantly disappointed when nothing happens. At some point it would be nice to have a twist or a turn in the plot, but the main character makes sure this doesn't happen! The movie tries to describe the main character's reaction to his mothers death in an original way, but gets completely lost as it tries too hard to be original. The film-makers seem to have forgotten the fact that a movie is supposed to be entertaining or a least a tiny bit intriguing - at least on some level. But it fails. Miserably. It's really sad, because upon watching it you're left with a feeling that this movie could have been so much more, but faded into nothing.

Still, if you find the idea of an obese, awkward man who lives with his mother well into his thirties, who never speaks, no matter what, interesting, I would recommend this movie. (Or if you have problems falling asleep, I'm sure this movie'd do the trick!)