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Phat Girlz (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:10
Rotten:32
Average Rating:3.8/10
Consensus: Although Phat Girlz has good intentions, it is sloppily made and thin on laughs.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: In this feel-good comedy with a positive message, Mo'Nique stands up for all the overweight women given short shrift by society. One of a group of three friends that includes her hot-to-trot thin... In this feel-good comedy with a positive message, Mo'Nique stands up for all the overweight women given short shrift by society. One of a group of three friends that includes her hot-to-trot thin cousin Mia (Joyful Drake) and her frumpy friend Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson), Jazmin dreams of starting her own fashion line for big girls. Meanwhile her crash diets aren't working and she hasn't been with a man in nine months. Then she wins a trip to Palm Springs and meets Tunde (Jimmy Jean-Louis), a Nigerian doctor, for whom big means beautiful. Romance is all set to bloom, but that's where this Cinderella story takes a sudden detour. Jazmin learns there's more to happiness than a gorgeous man, especially when her low self-esteem keeps him at arm's length. With its interesting insights into weight discrimination and its celebratory depiction of African and African American culture, PHAT GIRLZ grows into a "feel good about yourself" movie, no matter what size, gender, or color you may be. Comedy star Mo'Nique proves she's got the heft to carry a leading feature film role, especially during her mannequin-destroying, room-shredding third act meltdown. As her knight in shining armor, Jean-Louis does the beaming-with-African-charm-and-dignity thing very well, and even though she's not phat, Joyful Drake still looks pretty sexy as the petite-sized cousin, letting it all hang out at the Palm Springs poolside. [More]
Starring: Mo'Nique, Eric Roberts, Godfrey, Jack Noseworthy
Starring: Mo'Nique, Eric Roberts, Godfrey, Jack Noseworthy, Joyful Drake, Dayo Ade, Felix Pire, Crystal Rivers, Carrie Southworth, Kendra C. Johnson
Director: Nnegest Likké
Director: Nnegest Likké
Screenwriter: Nnegest Likké
Producer: Bobby Newmyer
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Reviews for Phat Girlz
It does suffer ... from actually having way too much heart and not enough soul, its identity lost far beneath its ambitions for affirmation.
Although Phat Girlz...looks to have been made on a shoestring, with muddy, unflattering lighting (by two cinematographers), there is nonetheless something to be commended here.
Almost stunning in its determination to be the ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy vehicle for plus-sized African-American women...
even though this movie is a bit of a mess, it turns out to be unexpectedly sweet and funny. Its very amateurishness gives it freshness and authenticity.
[MoNique's] sassy forte may be talking so straight-up she sounds crazy, but she seems a little advanced to be doing 'yo mama' jokes.
While it's a pleasure to watch the likeable Kendra Johnson open up and come out of her shell, Phat Girlz belongs to Mo'Nique, a grating, belligerent woman who alternates self-deprecating fat jokes with drama-queen meltdowns and simpering pleas for
Uneven but lovable, "Phat Girlz" comes strutting on to the screen. As well it should.
Jazmin's so fat that the movie reduces her to a single discernible characteristic, which is a telltale mark of many a wholly awful comedy.
Outrageous comedy? damn right!!! I'm outraged that there's no comedy here AT ALL!!!!
The first word of the movie's title stands for Pretty Hot and Thick. The second word is never spelled out, but it could mean Good Intentions Ruined by Lousy Zingers.
I'm recommending it, barely, because I think it speaks pretty well to a certain audience and does so from the heart.
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