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Review: Phat Girlz

by Christopher Campbell Apr 8th 2006 // 10:30AM

Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Theatrical Reviews, Fox Searchlight



Don't mistakenly call it Fat Girls. The alternatively spelled first word (don't ask me about the second) of Phat Girlz stands for "Pretty, Hot And Thick", which is just one of the many complimentary terms attributed to plus-size women in writer-director Nnegest Likké's romantic comedy. Others include "sexy succulent" and "thick madame," and these labels are used to give its big-boned protagonist a substitute for any of the derogatory words that have been directed towards her throughout her life. With words, the difference between negative and positive self-consciousness seems a simple process, but the movie wants us to make believe that living with such physical and psychological obstacles in America's thin-centered society is just as easy as a flip-flop in language.

Comedienne Mo'Nique plays Jazmin, a big girl with big problems, all attributed to her size and its affect on her ability to attract men, find clothes that are both comfortable and fashionable and most of all feel confident in herself. She is an aspiring designer of plus-size apparel, but she works at a mall department store where every day she has to sadly watch others like her choose from frumpy wardrobes and also watch "skinny bitches" pick up stylish clothes and attractive beaus.

One day Jazmin's life changes all too conveniently when she wins a trip to a Palm Springs resort through a diet company sweepstakes. Along for the ride is her best friend and fellow "phat girl" Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson) and her thin yet disproportionately top-heavy cousin Mia (Joyful Drake), two girls who represent the most extreme levels of low and high self-esteem, respectively. There they meet Tunde and Akibo (Jimmy Jean-Louis and Godfrey), two Nigerian doctors in town for a convention, who surprisingly favor full-bodied females to what they refer to as the common American "toothpicks". That the men are gentlemen and also have amazingly toned bodies seems, to Jazmin and Stacey, too good to be true.

And for the audience, it is too good to be believed. Not that these women could score such good-looking men, but that everything could fall into place with such fortunate ease, without the necessity for any causative actions. Nearly every propelling moment in Phat Girlz is reliant on luck and/or unlikely opportunity. Although the narrative structure of the Likké's script does not completely conform to standards — during the prize vacation storyline the fashion design subplot is dismissed and when the fashion design story resumes the romantic elements are forgotten — the movie is predictable at every turn. Obviously Jazmin will end up with a world famous clothing line and obviously she will end up with the rich, handsome doctor, because it is a cinematic fantasy in the highest sense. Unfortunately, using so much implausible escapism can depreciate the value of the inspirational intentions.

Luckily for those in need of the solace, Phat Girlz is still flooded with sensitivity despite being lacking in thoughtfulness. It does suffer, however, from actually having way too much heart and not enough soul, its identity lost far beneath its ambitions for affirmation. It also is short on brains, as it fails to present any scenes smarter than what might be found in a low-rated UPN sitcom. Mo'Nique certainly deserves dialogue and development with more wit and creativity than she's given. All the sass and energy she has been exhibiting since her breakthrough in the stand-up concert film The Queens of Comedy up to her scene-stealing performance in last year's dreadful Domino, is substituted with a bland sweet side that may be genuine, but which evokes no sympathy. She is suddenly cute but unexpectedly boring.

In one early scene Jazmin is at a fast food joint and gets into a battle of insults with a cashier there. He attacks with pitifully weak "you so fat" jokes and she counters with remarks beginning with "you so ugly." She wins out with her zingers but they're still not as inventive as they should be. I was reminded of the moment in Roxanne, a modernized sequence from its source Cyrano de Bergerac, where Steve Martin comes back from being disrespected by listing 20 quips about his own physical anomaly, his big nose, that are more creative than his offender's put down. It is clear that Mo'Nique is able to poke fun at herself in the film, but there is a major opportunity lost in not having her character do the same, if not in that particular scene, where it would be against her initially defensive attitudes, then perhaps revisited later when she changes to a more self-assured woman.

Probably the biggest insult to the story and everyone involved with the telling of it, is how cheap the film looks. Shot on HD digital video, the cinematography is embarrassingly crude with a lot of unflattering soft-focus and ghosted motion. A few times, specifically during the medical convention, which was taped amidst an actual Nigerian convention and included attendees as extras, and during a trip to Africa, the video brings a vérité feel to the film, but really there is no sense for this feeling to exist in such an otherwise over-fabricated fiction.

It is a real shame that Phat Girlz isn't a better movie. Mo'Nique is more than ready and worthy of a star-making hit, and this should have been it. Additionally plus size women are entitled to a romantic comedy that pays them the respect and positive recognition that this story yearns to do. And while it may be a welcome change from fat-suited offenses like Shallow Hal and The Nutty Professor, it is still too far from being the intelligent and graceful appreciation that is necessary to make us forget about them.

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Tags: mo'nique, Nigeria, plus size models, PlusSizeModels

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