Heavy . Nashville Scene . 10-06-97

Heavy

DIRECTED BY: James Mangold

REVIEWED: 10-06-97

The title speaks volumes. Writer-director James Mangold's debut film is about a heavy man--a self-conscious short-order cook (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who lives and works alongside his overbearing mother (Shelley Winters). This is also a heavy film--a near-silent meditation on loneliness and grief. Mangold, who went on to make the overwrought Copland, stripped this film of all unnecessary dialogue and exposition, putting his focus instead on the reactions of his lead. Vince does not let Mangold down. He's often painful to watch, as he torturously contemplates what to say to the people who belittle him. He's too shy even to acknowledge when a family member has died, preferring to keep the departed's last breakfast intact and uneaten on his kitchen table. When he finally does mourn--over a box of Entemann's doughnuts that he has hidden in a supply closet--the noiseless blubbering is enough to break your heart.

--Noel Murray

Capsule Reviews
Heavy

Other Films by James Mangold
Cop Land

Film Vault Suggested Links
Raging Bull
Days of Heaven
Bright Lights, Big City

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