Heavyweights
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| Heavy Weights | |
|---|---|
 They don't run the fastest. They don't jump the highest. But they sure are getting the last laugh. Heavyweights. They never met a hot dog they didn't like ... until now. |
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| Directed by | Steven Brill |
| Produced by | Joe Roth |
| Written by | Judd Apatow, Steven Brill |
| Starring | Ben Stiller, Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Cody Burger |
| Music by | J.A.C. Redford |
| Cinematography | Victor Hammer |
| Editing by | Carroll Timothy O'Meara |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 17, 1995 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Heavyweights is a 1995 comedy film about a fat camp for kids that is taken over by a fitness guru named Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller, who would later play a similar role in 2004's Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story).
Contents |
[edit] Plot
As school ends for the Summer, Gerry Gardner (Aaron Schwartz) is sent by his parents to Camp Hope, a weight loss camp for boys. Gerry makes friends easily at camp and discovers that enough junk food has been smuggled in to easily stave off weight loss.
That night the boys learn that Camp Hope has been bought by fitness entrepreneur Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller), who announces his plan to make the camp's new exercise regime into the top weight loss infomercial in the country.
Tony cleanses the cabins of the campers' food caches, cuts off their contact with the outside world, and installs an exercise outline of trendy fitness techniques that downplay fun to the point of humiliation.
The campers discover the counselors' secret food store and when they gain weight, Tony forces them on a twenty mile hike. On the hike, the campers trick Tony into falling into a deep pit, severely injuring him. The boys bring Tony back to camp and imprison him in a make-shift cell of chicken wire electrified with a bug zapper.
After an orgy of binge eating, the boys begin following a more healthy regime.
On parent's visiting day, Tony escapes and exchanges blows with Gerry's father. Tony then attempts a series of backflips, stumbles, and incapacitates himself.
In the grand finale Camp Hope wins the annual Apache Relay race against the rival sports camp for the first time.
[edit] Cult Classic
In the years following its release, Heavyweights has become somewhat of a pop classic. It is as popular with teens and young adults as it is with its intended audience, children. This is most likely due to Ben Stiller's subsequent rise to stardom, giving considerable irony to his over-the-top performance as Tony Perkis.[citation needed]
Another possible explanation is the numerous plot holes and incongruities, adding an element of the absurd to viewers now old enough to recognize them.[citation needed]
[edit] Cast of Actors
- David Goldman .... Nicholas
- Joseph Wayne Miller .... Sam
- Cody Burger .... Cody
- Allen Covert .... Kenny
- Tim Blake Nelson .... Roger Johnson
- Nancy Ringham .... Mrs. Maury Garner
- Seth St. Laurent .... Camp MVP Racer
- Bobby Fain .... Camp MVP Pitcher
- Tom McGowan .... Pat Finley
- Aaron Schwartz .... Gerald 'Gerry' Garner
- Shaun Weiss .... Josh Burnbaum
- Tom Hodges .... Lars
- Leah Lail .... Julie
- Paul Feig .... Tim
- Kenan Thompson .... Roy
- David Bowe .... Chris Donelly
- Max Goldblatt .... Phillip Grubenov
- Robert Zalkind .... Simms
- Patrick LaBrecque .... Dawson (as Patrick La Brecque)
- Jeffrey Tambor .... Maury Garner
- Jerry Stiller .... Harvey Bushkin
- Anne Meara .... Alice Bushkin
- Ben Stiller .... Tony Perkis/Tony Perkis Sr.
- Robert E. Spencer III .... Soccer Goalie
- Dustin Greer .... Blob Master
- Matthew R. Zboyovski .... Hope Wall Climber
- J.T. Alessi .... Balloon Shaver
- Chris Snyder .... Baseball Scorekeeper
- Aubrey Dollar .... Camp Magnolia Girl
- Mary Holt Fickes .... Camp Magnolia Girl
- Jamie Olson .... Camp Magnolia Girl
- Lauren Hill .... Angelic Girl
- Landry M. Constantino .... Kissing Girl
- Lois Yaroshefsky .... Camp Magnolia Counselor
- Mathew Bradley King .... Gerrys School Buddy
- Deena Dill .... Stewardess
- Tom Kelley .... Man on Plane
- Lars Clark .... Jack Garner
- Judd Apatow .... Homer
[edit] Trivia
- The movie was filmed entirely in North Carolina. [1] at a real summer camp Camp Pinnacle [2]. The Blob was, and still is used by campers.
- Ben Stiller's real life parents play the Bushkins, the first owners of Camp Hope.
- Besides the similarities between Tony Perkis and White Goodman, Ben Stiller may have made a more direct nod to one of his Heavyweights characters in the 2004 film, "Starsky & Hutch". In Heavyweights, Stiller also plays Tony Perkis, Sr., the fitness guru's father. As David Starsky in Starsky & Hutch, he puts on a diguise and calls himself Maury Finkel for a scene in the movie. Besides both being older men and talking in the same voice, Finkel claims to be the "founder of Finkel Fixtures, biggest lighting fixture chain in the southland." In Heavyweights, Tony Perkis, Sr. is the "Lighting Fixture King" of Western Pennsylvania.
[edit] Memorable Lines
- "Oh look, deli meat" -Tony Perkis after finding salami in a camper's bunk
- "I did not send you to GoKart Camp" -Gerry's father (on the phone with Gerry)
- "This is the 18th level of the Perkis system, you'll all be doing this by labour day. Now do it to it Lars,
"With Pleasure Tony." as Lars breaks a ice block over Tony while he lays on a bed on nails.
"OH the cinematography, but I must admit the villain was a bit over the top," Tony saying about the movie about Camp Hell.
- "Nobody's seen more butts than you Uncle Tony!" -Josh's response to Tony's "Who's Seymour Butts?"
- "Attention campers, Breakfast has been canceled due to lack of hustle... Deal with it." - Tony Perkis, meting out punishment on his campers.
- "First I went to the Sizzler, got that all-you-can-eat meal. I closed the place." -Josh describing his meal in the outside world after returning to camp.
- "Jeez, get a room or something" -Gerry, commenting on two students making out, on the last day of school.
- Tony Perkis-"Mmm. Can you smell it? There's a life force in here tonight. Do you feel it, hmm? I look around this room and I see...potential!
- (At Gerry)
- I see the chairman of a Fortune 500 Company.
- (At Roy)
- I see a famous rap artist.
- (At Nicholas)
- The President of the United States. Josh response-he's from England
- Tony Perkis-"Now many of you from western Pennsylvania may know my father, Tony Perkis Sr., The lighting fixture king. But I'm gonna do old dad one better. I'm not just going to give you a light- I'm going to show you the light!"
- Tony Perkis- "When I was 12 years old, I weighed 319 pounds. I had bad skin, low self-esteem, and no self-respect. But now I eat success for breakfast- with skim milk. Pounds are gonna fly, and fat is...outta here, mister! And we are gonna do it, together!"
- "Repulse the monkey. Part the wild horses mane." -Tony Perkis
- "Tony Perkis is a man dedicated to saying things like Yes, and You Better Believe it. Motivater and entrepreneur." How Lars announces Tony's arrival.
- "Only film the ones that are standing Kenneth." Tony perkis says to the camera man as most of the children fall while sliding.
- "Uh oh. Looks like London Bridge is falling down!" Tony says to Nicholas after he tricks him into helping him escape.
