HEAVYWEIGHTS

US, 1995, 100 minutes, Colour.
Ben Stiller, Tom Mc Gowan, Aaron Schwartz, Shaun Weiss, Tom Hodges, Paul Fieg, Tim Blake Nelson, Alan Covert, Jeffrey Tambor, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller.
Directed by Stephen Brill.

Heavyweights is a star vehicle for Ben Stiller who was emerging as an actor, television personality, comedian, as well as director in the mid 90s. This is a Disney film, a reassuring comedy for boys who are overweight.

Aaron Schwartz portrays Gerry, an overweight boy who listens to a pitch for Camp Hope, by Tim Blake Nelson, and is persuaded to go, to the relief of his parents, including father, Jeffrey Tambor. The owners of the camp are played by Ben Stiller’s parents, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. The cheery supervisor for the boys is played by Tom Mc Gowan.

The boys make friends on the bus, go into the hall, cheer the owners only to find that they have gone into bankruptcy and the character taking over the camp is a mad fitness instructor, played by Stiller himself (who, at the end, gets a chance to play his entrepreneur father). He enlists the help of stern supervisors, in contrast to the friendly types who are already there.

Much of the comedy comes from the attempts, especially of Stiller himself and one of his henchman, Lars, played by Tom Hodge, enforcing the boys into fitness exercises – and discovering the hidden stash of sweets and candy. There is a girls’ camp close by with the girl is not interested until the staff start to dance, the boys got the floor, the girls are happy until the owner suddenly stops everything.

Eventually, the boys rise up against this harsh regime and imprison the owner – but, after tempting his guard by some candy, he gets out and confronts the boys and their parents who are visiting.

Needless to say, all ends well, parents and sons reconciled, the only taken away by this more genial father, the good staff retained, the boys doing their bit about weight loss – but not fanatical!
The film is the kind of Disney film popular during Yuri the 1990s, akin to the series of The Mighty Ducks in which the two central young performers appeared. We see Ben Stiller at this stage of his career, about to embark on a wide range of zany comedies.

The film was directed by Stephen Brill, who collaborated in writing and direction with some of Adam Sandler’s films, especially Little Nicky. And, surprisingly, the co-writer of the screenplay is Jud Appatow who, 10 years later, after success in television, broke into the film world with The 40 Year Old Virgin and many other comedies.