Today's little glimpse into the world before everything got a lot crazier is Disney's time capsule of a film Heavyweights. A film I had no idea existed or bothered to read anything up on prior to watching it. I simply scrolled through Disney+, through the category of older films it refers to as throwbacks. I saw Heavyweights come up and just decided that was it, this is what I'd spend my night watching. A very careless, sudden decision to dive into a random film following my recent look into these older family films of Disney. It seems Disney really had some soul back then, happy to throw money at anyone and anything regardless of what it was. Not caring for whether it may be considered remotely offensive, and with a target demographic that seemed loose. Will the family give us their money in ticket sales and VHS purchases? Well, maybe! That'll do; project funded!
While I am seeming a bit like I'm ranting or perhaps speaking negatively of this, I'm actually speaking of it with great praise. Looking back at a time where films were of course still seen as products, but relaxed ones that seemed happy, creative, and more than happy to cast a wide range of actors that you may have seen before, as well as will never see again. These films are fresh, even if they're bad, they come and go with short runtimes but they tell very unique stories of adventure and youth. Still full of adult themes that make it more appealing to the older demographic that may be present during the viewing. That is to say they really did make family films. It is strange to look back at these films and realise how much things have changed in such a short period of time, seemingly like you're truly looking at a different world. It is hard to not argue that you are essentially looking back at a better time, full of optimism and more relaxed approaches to conducting business within the film industry. No algorithms choosing what people want and need, not everything a franchise despite there still being franchise films. Perhaps this is more suitable for an entire post on its own; though the point remains: Heavyweights is one of these films that seems like a glimpse into another world.
And it really will not take long in this review to understand why.
Heavyweights
Heavyweights is a film about fat kids. A film that shows a group of fat children that their parents decide to send off to a fat camp. This camp is a place in which the children are supposed to learn how to better take care of themselves and reduce some weight, gaining better health and an understanding of the skills that lead to a healthier life. Fitness, diet necessities, and team building exercises. This camp, Camp Hope, is meant to set the fat children on track to weight reduction at its core. Removing the weight a bit before returning back to their parents at the end of the camp. The whole camp idea from Disney is hardly new, so many of these Californian 90s films and series seem to love the idea of camp. I recall A Pig's Take having a similar kdea. Perhaps a result of many of these productions also being shot in British Columbia contrary to the locations they discuss in the narratives. As you can tell, this film has a pretty crazy theme that just would not pass in today's fragile climate. Negatively perceiving these overweight children as far and in need of change, unhealthy and not good enough as they are. While of course being overweight is not a good thing and we should strive to improve ourselves, the craziest thing to me with Heavyweights was how the children considered fat and in need of losing weight would be considered just chubby today. I think that shocked me more than the film's main concept: that realisation of how much society has been altered.
Though the film does not stop there, the main theme of Heavyweights is that the very shredded (and perhaps one of the most shredded comedians and least serious actors of all time) Ben Stiller is the one running the camp. Almost a bit similar to his role in Dodgeball, Stiller plays an egocentric fitness fanatic. The type of person you'll find today screaming about hustle culture and how pain is good. Really though, it's very strange how similar his character in this is to his Dodgeball character. Very similar appearances, very similar mannerisms and ways of speaking. But this does seem to be a common part of Stiller's acting career. Featuring a very particular style of speaking, and very successfully pulling off the egocentric type of individual. His character absolutely makes the film even if he is painted as the story's uncontrollable villain that is spreading havoc to the children. Funnily, however, this character doesn't even seem like a villain at first. He simply seems like the type of character that is found in military bootcamp films. A bit serious but very persistent and encouraging of pursuing better health. The children sneak snacks into the camp and hide them, breaking rules and generally being mischievous; yet the villain is supposedly the guy really trying to engrave some better forward thinking into their minds to encourage healthier decisions and a better lifestyle. To some this may just be perceived as the typical "adults bad and boring" narrative that came with family films of the past, but it doesn't quite seem that way. The rest of the adults sem to be on the children's side, eventually coming to plot against Stiller's character to seemingly liberate Camp Hope and make it more fun.
Because of the very simple narrative and location choices for the film, despite it having a relatively short runtime, it actually felt like quite a drag. For the most part it was as if nothing really happened. Pointless scenes taking place that didn't really offer any additional context or anything that felt like character development. Nothing really built up their characters or set them up for any particular achievements when the moment called for it. It sort of felt as if just very little really happened. I'd find myself checking how far in I was, sort of hoping the slider had budged a bit more to the right. Not to say it was super boring or just terrible, just that it didn't really feel like there was much else to it other than Stiller carrying the weight of the film. Holding all the personality the film had to offer while everyone else, not just the random child actors, sort of stood around. With may come as a surprise given the film actually had quite a few familiar names in the cast regarding the adults. Written by and featuring Judd Apatow with appearances by Jerry Stiller and Paul Fieg. The result was it did have that very direct to video sort of feeling to it, where the budget did actually seem decent, but the story was just thrown together as an excuse to make another film for families to eat up. Though I am glad it exists for its total weirdness and pretty much time capsule look into the past. To see a time where Disney, and Hollywood, were a lot more relaxed and didn't mind trying new things. I can't fault that. Would I recommend it though? Well, not really. I'm really not sure who this would be for in today's climate. It doesn't really have a whole lot to offer as well. Stiller is the main appeal, and there's only so much he can do here to keep things interesting. Though I think the main thing we can take from this is that next time Disney claims to be so progressive and leading, just remember that one time they made a film about sending overweight children to a fat camp.
