Blu-ray Review: Heavyweights (1995)

Heavyweights is a kid-oriented summer camp comedy that originally hit theaters in early 1995. There are a few notable names prominently attached to the film, not the least of which being Judd Apatow. Long before his decidedly adult-oriented hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Apatow co-wrote and co-produced this innocuous tale of overweight tweens and young teens sent away to work off some of their excess poundage. Among the kids is Kenan Thompson, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live over the past 10 years or so. The new Blu-ray is noteworthy for the inclusion of a substantial amount of new bonus features.

Leading the group of misfits is Ben Stiller, aggressively overplaying the role of Tony Perkis. Camp Hope’s original owners (played by Stiller’s real-life parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara) have run into financial trouble and sold the outfit to Perkis. His grand plan? He and his crew will film the camp’s activities all summer, using the footage for an infomercial that will hawk a weight-loss program. Naturally the longtime Camp Hope counselors and returning campers are mortified by this turn of events. As Perkis’ authoritarian style begins to grate on the camp personnel, Heavyweights becomes something of a Revenge of the Nerds, self-empowerment type of picture.

The enthusiastic cast doesn’t really make up for the uneven pacing. Even though it’s only around 90 minutes, it starts to feel much longer as it drags into the third act. Apparently not content with having the young underdogs take on Perkis, they also must battle for the respect of a rival camp that consists of far more athletic kids. It presents one climax too many for this modest flick. Stiller has a few fun moments and the kids are cute. It just never got me laughing. Plus some of the food-indulgence gets a little gross and out of hand (eating hamburgers in a bathroom stall, really?). The interesting thing is, Perkis’ message of health and fitness is actually a good one. It’s only his methods that are questionable, something the film never really addresses sufficiently.

Article Author: The Other Chad

My name is Chaz. A former co-worker (Dave) always misheard my name as "Chad." Complicating matters was a third co-worker, who was in fact named Chad. So Dave habitually called me the "other Chad."

Contact: chazlipp3@gmail.com

Visit The Other Chad's author page — The Other Chad's Blog