Fat Slags (film)
Fat Slags | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ed Bye |
Written by | William Osborne |
Produced by | Charles Finch Luc Roeg |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Sorapure |
Edited by | Mark Wybourn |
Music by | David A. Hughes |
Production companies | Artists Independent Pictures Funny Films |
Distributed by | Entertainment Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes[1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Fat Slags is a 2004 British independent gross out comedy film based on the Viz comic characters of the same name. The creators had no editorial control over the film.[2] Despite the relative popularity of the comic strip and its celebrity cameos, the film was panned by critics.
Plot[]
The film chronicles the (mis)adventures of Sandra (Fiona Allen) and Tracey (Sophie Thompson), the famously vulgar and crass Fat Slags of the title. The pair leave their hometown of Fulchester for London, shagging and boozing their way to fame and fortune. On the day they arrive in London, internationally-renowned billionaire Sean Cooley (Jerry O'Connell) suffers a blow to the head that renders him temporarily insane. When he spots Sandra and Tracey on a daytime chat-show he falls for their larger-than-life outlook. A media sensation is brought about when Cooley forces fashion designer Fidor Konstantin (James Dreyfus) to base his upcoming collection on the Fat Slags. Sandra and Tracey take the United Kingdom by storm, hitting #1 in the record charts and inadvertently winning the Turner Prize. As far as the press is concerned, fat is the new black. This new trend leads to Cooley's assistant Paige gaining major weight. Throughout their journey into the world of fame, the Slags maintain their unique and endearing vulgarity, coupled with an innocence that draws the British public to their cause. But in private, jealousy drives a wedge between them as they vie for Cooley's attentions. Only when he regains his mental faculties and turns on the girls do they realise that their friendship is the only real thing they have in their mad new world.
Cast[]
- Fiona Allen as Sandra "San" Burke
- Sophie Thompson as Tracey "Tray" Tunstall
- Jerry O'Connell as Sean Cooley
- Anthony Head as Victor Lange
- Geri Halliwell as Paige
- James Dreyfus as Fidor Ulrich Cosimo Konstantin
- Naomi Campbell as Sales assistant
- Angus Deayton as Maurice the hotel receptionist
- Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt as Immigration officers
- Les Dennis as MC
- Simon Farnaby as a ventriloquist
- Tom Goodman-Hill as Barry "Baz" Askwith
- Henry Miller as Dave
- Michael Greco as Niarchos
- Eamonn Holmes as himself
- David Schneider as Tanner
- Metin and Timur Ahmet as two waiters
- Helen Lederer as a hysterical woman
- Ralf Little as a milkman
- John Thomson as the Foreman
- Dolph Lundgren as Randy[3]
- Alison King as a receptionist
- Shend as a kebab van proprietor
Production[]
In August of 2003, it was announced a feature film adaptation Fat Slags was slated to begin shooting scheduled August 10th.[4] Fat Slags was part of a wave of sex comedies slated for production in the U.K. alongside other entries such as Sex Lives of the Potato Men, School for Seduction, and attempted Carry On revival Carry On London which was soon cancelled.[4]
Reception[]
Critical response[]
Fat Slags received near unanimously negative reviews and was panned by critics.[5] The Guardian stated "It has plenty of gross-out stuff, but chucked in with an eerie lack of enjoyment or conviction. Depression seeps out of the screen like carbon monoxide."[6] Graham Dury stated that Rita, Sue and Bob Too was a more accurate live action depiction of the comic book characters. Dury told the BBC that he was so appalled by the film, he would stop drawing the strips,[5] though the strip did not in fact stop. British film historian I.Q. Hunter, discussing the question "What is the worst British film ever made?", listed Fat Slags as one of the contenders for that title.[7]
References[]
- ^ "FAT SLAGS (15)". Entertainment Film Distributors. British Board of Film Classification. 8 October 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ "Goodbye, Fat Slags". Metro. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ "Goodbye, Fat Slags The Expendables' Dolph Lundgren on his big-screen comeback". Metro. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ a b "'Fat Slags' gets Green light; Aardman toons up". Variety. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Viz to drop Fat Slags in protest". BBC. 19 October 2004. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ Plunkett, John (19 October 2004). "Viz gives Fat Slags the elbow". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ I. Q Hunter, "From Window Cleaner to Potato Man" in British Comedy Cinema, edited by I.Q. Hunter and Laraine Porter. Routledge, 2012. ISBN 0415666678. (p.154)
External links[]
- 2004 films
- English-language films
- 2004 comedy films
- British films
- British comedy films
- Films based on British comics
- Films based on comic strips
- Films shot in London
- Live-action films based on comics
- British independent films
- 2004 independent films