Heavyweights

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Growing up, there was this trend of film that spoke to our generation involving kids and sports. 'The Mighty Ducks', 'The Sandlot', 'Little Giants', 'Rookie of the Year', 'Little Big League', 'Angels in the Outfield' (man, baseball was a real go-to, wasn't it?) the list goes on. I liked a bunch of them okay at the time, but there was a very different one that spoke to me, personally; 'Heavyweights'.

The film portrays 11-year-old Gerry Garner (Aaron Schwartz) who comes home to his parents intervening with his lifestyle with ads for a "fat camp" called Camp Hope. Though skeptical at first, the ad actually shows cool things like go-karting and "The Blob" (a massive inflatable raft used to launch kids into the air and into the lake) which quickly gains his curiosity. He then meets the other kids, headed by Josh (Shaun Weiss) and Roy (Kenan Thompson), and the counselors; which primarily include a big softy named Pat (Tom McGowan), who has his own development story as he has an interest in a sweet nurse named Julie (Leah Lail) and all seems to be going well.

However, when the camp owners, the Bushkins (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara) have to file for bankruptcy, the camp is suddenly taken over by maniacal meathead, Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller) and his crew of enforcers. They have come to essentially abuse these kids into losing weight. For an idea on his character, think White Goodman from 'Dodgeball' coaching a bunch of kids. As if that isn't enough, they also have to deal with their rival camp; essentially a group of typical bully jocks. In the end, it's a question of how far the kids and counselors are willing to take things to regain control of their camp.

To be frank, there is a lot about this movie that isn't as great as I remember. I find the humor to be oddly balanced; where some gags get a giggle, others will have you rolling your eyes. A lot of the lame humor comes from the kids and counselors, but and as one can imagine, a lot of the good stuff comes from Ben Stiller. There's something about him playing an overtly cocky guy that just cracks me up. The dialogue comes to us from an interesting team though; Steven Brill ('The Mighty Ducks', 'Ready to Rumble' and 'Little Nicky') and Judd Apatow ('The 40-Year-Old Virgin', 'Knocked Up' and the legendary 'Freaks and Geeks'), so one can imagine an odd balance.

The film as a whole is pretty off-the-wall ridiculous in what it wants us to buy into sometimes; for instance a video that has you asking "whose camera is that?", and the whole general idea that, while perhaps not to his extreme, Perkis is one of those villains you realize is kinda right in what he's doing. Right from the get-go, you see how insanely easily these kids get hold of junk food to cheat with. In such a situation, it does make sense to bring in someone who will lock it down, as the whole idea of the camp is to lose weight. Again, maybe not him, but someone more strict was probably pretty necessary, if I'm being honest.

At the end of the day, however, this IS a movie aimed at kids, so I'm not gonna just sit here and pick it apart little by little. As I mentioned, this was something that spoke to a chubby, out of shape me, back in the day. I have to appreciate that it took the bonding concept that other early 90's kids sports movies had and incorporated it into something for all the other kids who sucked at gym class. Even with that, it still features a game of baseball, so it did try to reach a range of kids - perhaps to show them that kids like me didn't necessarily suck at everything.

This one might not hit the same chords it did back then. It's no last string of childhood, like 'Space Jam', nor does it represent some obscure life event like puberty. It was just a fun film that spoke to me a little more than it spoke to others back then. A lot of it is kinda tough to watch nowadays as an adult, and there's no real nostalgic tie to it. However, if you are curious about some of Stiller's early work, it might be worth checking out. Bringing up 'Dodgeball' again, you could even fan-theorize that Tony Perkins and White Goodman are perhaps one and the same? 

​3/5

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