Heavyweights (1995)

The Worst Film Ever

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Don't Believe the Hype

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

I was reading about Ben Stiller on IMDb discussion boards and plenty of people recommended Heavy Weights (1995) as one of his best comedy films. Oh, boy! This is one of the most disgusting and stupid films I've ever seen - the jokes were so lame (really, do people still laugh at fart jokes?! - Probably fat people do ...), Ben Stiller's character was pathetic rather than funny and the obese boys - well, they were too self-indulging, spoiled (and most of them - hm, ugly) to be appealing in any way. Instead of amusing I found the film dangerous - it promotes stuffing with junk food, encourages undisciplined behavior and on top of all - promulgates fat people as cleverer than thin and fit ones, while the truth is that junk food and lack of exercise is bad for brain development. Do not waist your time with this crap, life is too short, watch a better movie.

Despite being a child of the '90s, somehow I missed "Heavyweights" entirely. Considering the similarities it shares with "The Mighty Ducks" movies such as actors Kenan Thompson and Shaun Weiss, I'm almost embarrassed. Regardless, there's still plenty to appreciate about "Heavyweights" 15 years later in spite of its silliness -- and it's more than just a joke about the ineptitude of the Buffalo Bills.For one, it was written and directed by Judd Apatow, who has a majority hold on the comedies of the last decade and for two, it marks one of Ben Stiller's first prominent roles as fitness wack-job Tony Perkis, who takes over a once-adored fat camp and harasses the kids.Good thing "Heavyweights" was made then or it may never have surfaced, seeing as the age of political correctness and weight sensitivity has befallen us. The film is not cruel at all in its depiction of overweight campers, so parents surfing around for slightly older kid films and coming across this one shouldn't be concerned about that factor, but there's no doubt that such a concept would be hard to get off the ground, especially at Disney, in the 21st Century.Co-written by Apatow and Steven Brill, writer of "The Mighty Ducks" films, it was as if the two conspired to plant a seed for a type of humor that kids my age at the time would come to identify as their own as they entered the PG-13 and R-rated age. Tony Perkis, for example, is the spitting character image of Stiller's White Goodman from "Dodgeball" and yet to me he is just as amusing doing his patented whispery intimidating voice now despite my countless repeated viewings of "Dodgeball."There's also a classic overnight camp comedy sense of humor in "Heavyweights" like the kids getting beat in sports by their rival camp, an awkward dance mixer with a normal girls camp and when the kids unload the candy stashes they've snuck in camp into secret compartments -- as well as the run-of-the-mill fart jokes. Characters such as Tony's hysterical right-hand European man Lars, however, were way ahead of their time."Heavyweights" is pretty immature and excludes girls (because fat girls would be too taboo for the '90s). Its typical camp movie plot as well as its "overthrow-the-bad-guy" story arch - - which ruled the '90s -- come off as stale. But ignore those distractions and "Heavyweights" is a funny, quotable movie with some classic scenes, which is all a kid (or someone trying to go back and grab some nostalgia) really wants.~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com

This was a very entertaining movie for my kids who had never seen Meatballs, that great late 70s flick with Bill Murry, his first I believe. I was only 9 when that came out and had not seen it in about 10 years when I saw Heavyweights, but almost immediately the comparisions come flowing -- you can't help but see them. Same movie as Meatballs, but worse. My (5 yr) son thought it was funny at times. But "Meatballs" is ripped off throughout. Ultimately Meatballs is the far better movie. Many scenes taken straight from Meatballs. Go cart scene is same as Rudy the Rabbit race at end. They chant the counselor name like they chanted "Spaz" in Meatballs. Stiller is great. And this movie is a good view. But, Meatballs holds up much better now that this movie is 15 years old.

Well I've seen this movie a lot of times and I like it because it's an inspiring movie to a lot of people. It makes kids think that they can be overweight if they're comfortable with it. If kids are comfortable with being over weight it shouldn't matter to other people. I also like this movie because Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller) shakes things up with the fact that he has a problem with kids being overweight. He probably had a problem as a child being fat. He most likely thinks that because he was fat at one point in time that he can connect with these kids. But he is lowering their self-esteem with the things that he says. You don't see that from Ben Stiller in most movies that Ben Stiller stars in. He's more of the guy that gets beat and his self-esteem gets lowered. For example, in the movie, Dodgeball; An Underdog Story he thinks he's the best person in the beginning, but then he gets best and he starts gaining weight again. I couldn't help but notice the fact that Ben Stiller stars in a lot of movies about weight or stuff about health. I was wondering if he was overweight as a child.