Heavy (1995)
Directed by James Mangold
Victor is a cook who works in a greasy roadside restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heavy drinking regular, Leo. But things change when Callie, a beautiful college dropout, shows up as a new waitress and steals Victor's heart. But Victor is too shy to do anything about it, and too self-consciously overweight to dream of winning Callie away.
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What critics compared Heavy to
Not every film gets there, but look at recent works like Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and both The Wolverine and Logan—even going back to his earliest works Heavy and Cop Land—for proof.
James Mangold, who eventually took the reins, is a fine filmmaker who has made a number of strong movies in the past (including “Heavy,” “Walk the Line” and “Logan”) but who really needs a strong screenplay in order to fully shine—otherwise, he is equally capable of cranking out duds like ‘Kate & Leopold,” “Knight and Day” and “Identity,” which I continue to believe to be one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen.
Director James Mangold ("Cop Land”) has one of the most varied filmographies in Hollywood, jumping around genres from Indie character studies (“Heavy”) to romcoms (“Kate & Leopold”) to thrillers (“Identity”), Westerns (“3:10 to Yuma”) and Super Hero movies (“The Wolverine”), his last, “Logan,” a combination of the latter two.
Writer Michael Cooney ("Jack Frost") uses the single location thriller format of "Ten Little Indians" to pay homage to "Psycho" with a twist on that film's psychiatric underpinnings while director James Mangold ("Heavy," "Kate & Leopold") keeps the action barreling forward, roving about the limited confines of a desolate motel with flair.
He started his career with the excellent indie-art film "Heavy," then went more commercial with the portentous "Copland," then went downright kitschy in "Girl, Interrupted," which promptly interrupted my interest in his work.
Vince starred in "Heavy," Mangold's lovely directorial debut about a road-side diner romance, but he uses those restless eyes of his to turn in a rote freak-show performance here.
But Identity, written by Michael Cooney and directed by James Mangold (who made the impeccable Heavy, the ambitious Cop Land, the dismal Kate & Leopold, along with Angelina Jolie's vehicle to brother-kissing Oscars stardom, Girl, Interrupted), has some okay cards up its sleeve.
Director James Mangold (Heavy) claims the role of Lisa is "a showy, tour de force kind of role, and a showy, tour de force kind of actress won the part."
It has been documented that star Winona Ryder has been passionate about a film adaptation of Kaysen's intriguing story (despite her book not following any sort of narrative) for several years, and it was only until she found a home at Columbia Pictures and collaborated with director James Mangold (1996's "Heavy") that everything fell into place.
As James Mangold's third feature, following "Heavy" and "Copland," the result demonstrates his fascination with performance, looks and gazes.
Teen angst gets the "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" treatment in "Girl, Interrupted," James Mangold's disappointingly common and commercial follow-up to his earlier, low-budget wonders "Heavy" and "Cop Land."
Pedigree: Director James Mangold made the indie classic "Heavy"; Susanna Kaysen's critically acclaimed memoir inspired the adaptation.
Third-time feature director Mangold worked miracles with this sort of slow-building drama in his debut movie, "Heavy," and the underrated "Copland."
Director James Mangold (“Heavy,” “Walk the Line”) deals with human-scale emotions, and as much as he and the screenwriters try, there’s a constant battle between Jackman’s wounded, mutton-chopped masculinity and the requisite silliness of a superhero flick.
The directorial skills Mangold applied to “Heavy,” “3:10 to Yuma” and “Walk The Line” are in evidence, especially in an understanding of the Western’s dynamics of quietude, then release.
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With his loping gait, his thrust-forward jaw, his oddly shaved head and his penchant for buttoning his blue work shirts up to the top button, Karl seems like an odd conflation of Forrest Gump and Pruitt Taylor Vince's shy, overweight pizza cook in last year's "Heavy."