Heavy

Released 1995
Stars Pruitt Taylor Vince, Shelley Winters, Liv Tyler, Debbie Harry, Joe Grifasi
Directed by James Mangold
Reviewed April 12, 1998

This is a mood movie; it's essentially a French film made in America. It's about the people at a pizzeria/bar named "Pete and Dolly's." Dolly is the owner; her husband, Pete, is long deceased. She runs the place with her son, Victor (Pruitt Taylor Vince), and one waitress (Debbie Harry). They've all been working together for at least 15 years, and, as the film opens, Dolly hires a new waitress. Dolly doesn't need the extra waitress, but we get the feeling she wants to shake things up. She wants to awaken her son from the way he is sleepwalking through his life.

The new waitress is named Callie (Liv Tyler). She's young, beautiful, and very sweet. She's a breath of fresh air for this stale establishment, and she shakes Victor up. He immediately falls in love with her, but she has a boyfriend. Besides, she's out of Victor's league.

This movie is about Victor's awakening. He's a painfully shy, emasculated man in his late 20's or early 30's. He's balding, overweight, and lives with his mother. Although he's the main character, he rarely speaks. We savor each word he does say, because we are trying to figure out who he is and what he's going to do. That made the movie impossible to predict (for me), and that's one reason I enjoyed it so much.

Victor's infatuation with Callie grows, but he's far too shy to approach her. Like many men who live alone with their mother, Victor's growth was arrested during adolescence. His room looks like it did when he was a teenager; there are airplane models, baseball cards, hot wheels, and no signs of adult items. He has disturbing, adolescent fantasies about Callie, and all of this becomes more and more creepy. What are Victor's intentions?

I don't want to say much more about the plot, because there isn't much plot here. It's a mood movie. The score was perfectly done, and it's as important to the movie's mood as the story. Callie's boyfriend is a songwriter. He's not very nice to her, but he plays the guitar and sings to her. I suppose that's why she stays with him, but she doesn't seem much interested in his music. I was. It's a form of country-rock, and it's very pleasing. Not only did I like his music, but I enjoyed the entire score. All of the music is young and vibrant, and this movie doesn't make the same mistake that most do. Instead of playing 30 seconds of a song to advance the plot, it plays the entire song. We're allowed to kick back and listen. We have time to think about what the characters are feeling and what we're feeling.

This movie was a special experience. The entire time I hoped Victor would find something to give his life meaning. In the end, I think he did.

Reviewed by Bill Alward  Home
 

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