By Danielle Austin
“Fat Kid Rules the World” is not another teen movie.
OK maybe it is, but not the kind that we are used to seeing. Kudos to Matthew Lillard on his directorial debut, this coming-of-age film is a breath of fresh air.
Instead of getting the typical dorky yet lovable underdog who befriends someone in the popular crowd, gets a makeover and turns out to be surprisingly attractive — we get Troy (Jacob Wysocki) an overweight depressed loser who befriends Marcus (Matt O’Leary), a homeless high-school dropout who loves drugs and punk rock music. Is the pairing unusual? Yes. Is it something to complain about? Definitely not.
Their friendship is humorous, heartbreaking and hard to take your eyes off of.
They meet how most friends meet — through a suicide attempt. Troy throws himself in front of a moving bus and Marcus pushes him out of the way then immediately demands money for saving Troy’s life. This sets the tone for their friendship throughout the film.
Marcus uses Troy to get free food, a place to crash and money to support his drug habit by convincing him they are starting their own punk rock band. And because of Marcus’ charming personality, Troy is oblivious and is just happy to have a friend — especially one as cool as Marcus. Troy’s strict ex-Marine father (Billy Campbell) isn’t as easily convinced, but is happy to see his son interested in something other than video games and junk food.
And after going to his first punk rock show and seeing Marcus perform, boy is he interested. He wants that rambunctious rocker attitude that Marcus has — and all the girls that come with it. There’s just one problem. He’s the band’s drummer and has no idea how to play the drums. And after his first “lesson” he realizes he is by no means musically inclined.
But he doesn’t give up. He spends hours and hours hovered over a drum kit determined to be halfway decent by the band’s first show. As Troy gains more confidence and slowly comes out of his shell, Marcus quickly dives further into his spiraling hole of self-destruction.
But don’t worry, there are no cheesy montages or cliche “I need help” scenes where the actors are too over-dramatic. Jacob Wysocki’s performance is vulnerable and endearing, making it hard not to connect with Troy in one way or another. And Matt O’Leary plays Marcus with such charm and raw emotion, you can’t help but cling to his every word — even when he’s spouting out nonsense.
Everything from the acting to the camera shots is done in a simple realistic manner, as it should be.
If you want to watch a film with excessive special effects, terrible choreographed fight scenes, dramatic love triangles and attractive actors whose acting abilities are debatable, the new “Twilight” movie comes out next month. But if you want to watch a film with a good storyline, outstanding acting and a killer soundtrack, “Fat Kid Rules the World” is showing again on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m. at the Trustees Theatre.
