Fat Pizza (2003)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Paul Fenech

Writers:

Tahir Bilgic (written by)
Paul Fenech (written by)

Release Date:

10 April 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Fast Cars, Fast Chicks, Fast Food

Plot Keywords:

Padded Stool | Wedding | Clown | Russian Mafia | Drugs

Cast

Paul Fenech	...	Pauly Falzoni
Paul Nakad	...	Sleek the Elite
John Boxer	...	Bobo Gigliotti
Tahir Bilgic	...	Habib Halal
Jabba	...	Davo Dinkum
Maria Venuti	...	Bobo's Mama
Annalise Braakensiek	...	Claudia Macpherson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angry Anderson	...	Bikie
Nelson Aspen	...	Himself
Kristy Best	...	Assistant Attorney
Glenn Butcher	...	Priest
Michael Craig	...	Judge
Cass Cumerford	...	Man in white
June Dries	...	Bikini babe #1
Jeff Fenech	...	Himself
Mario Fenech	...	Uncle Shiba
Tim Ferguson	...	David Cockerfield
Linden Goh	...	Lachlan
Joel Heddrick	...	Blind Man
Merv Hughes	...	Ivan
Kamahl	...	Manager of Phat Pizza
George Kapiniaris	...	Ronnie McDoggle
Costas Kilias	...	Dimitri
Bernard King	...	Leather Man
Hung Le	...	Revenge-Crazed Gangster
Jack Levi	...	Health Inspector
Pip Mushin	...	Injured Mormon
Brigid O'Sullivan	...	Doorbitch
Shane Porteous	...	Doctor
Denise Roberts	...	Various
Angus Sampson	...	Junky
Phillip Scott	...	Injured Mormon
Arthur Serevetas	...	Fighting Arthur (as Arthur Penn)
Rob Shehadie	...	Rocky
Kristine Stanley	...	The Crying Lady
Red Symons	...	Customs Officer
Krista Vendy	...	Green Peace Secretary
Rebel Wilson	...	Toula
Peng Wong	...	Ling's Father
Bruno Xavier	...	Young Gandhi
Jo Jo Yee	...	Ling
Greg Poppleton	...	Windshield Cleaner (uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Fenech

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tahir Bilgic		written by
Paul Fenech		written by

Produced by
Paul Fenech	....	producer
Jeff Purser	....	producer

Cinematography by
Mike Kliem

Sound Department
Les Fiddess	....	foley artist
Mike Jones	....	foley recordist
Tony Murtagh	....	dialogue editor
John Patterson	....	sound effects editor
Andy Postle	....	sound recordist

Music Department
Kim Green	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Jonathan Dixon	....	digital liaison

Production Companies

• SBS Independent

Distributors

• Atlantic Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Village Roadshow Entertainment

Other Companies

• Big Patts Film Store  post-production facilities

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Chullora, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

SBS Independent

Trivia:

The warning label on the front of the DVD case says, "WARNING: This film may cause pregnancy and could get you into trouble with your girlfriend. Tight arse people with no sense of humour may be offended. Not politically, gramatically or scientifically correct."

Goofs:

Continuity: Ivan introduces two blonde backpackers to hitchhiker Pauly. Five shots later and it becomes obvious one the backpackers is no longer a blonde.

Quotes:

Pauly Falzoni: [giving baby he's accidentally stolen to a wild animal] Dingo, take it back, mate.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Rocky (1976)

Much better than I expected...

In this world where we must be politically correct a hundred percent of the time or face court, Fat Pizza is like a breath of fresh air simply because it doesn't go out of its way to not offend anyone. We've all grown tired of films that go out of their way to please everyone and wind up pleasing noone as a result, so here's one that goes out of its way to please noone.

And it winds up pleasing most anyone who has ever lived in a city where there are a lot of people who represent an ethnic minority. Even people from California or New York might relate to it on some level. If you have never been outside of an exclusively Anglo-Saxon community, on the other hand, don't bother.

It has been stated that the film is little more than an extended episode of the television series, and this is true to some extent. However, the cinema format removes a lot of the restraints inherent in television, and as a result, the humour is more unapologetically ethnic, disgusting, and just plain revolting. The Farrelly brothers are complete tryhards in comparison to Paul Fenech and his cohorts. And the refreshing thing is that they truly don't care who they offend, offering absolutely no apologies whatsoever.

Another fun element of Fat Pizza is spotting all of the cameos from minor, or even major, Australian celebrities. Angry Anderson, Red Symons, Kamahl, Elliot Goblet, even Jeff Fenech himself - anyone who has ever been anyone on Australian television is packed in here, and you'll need to watch the film twice just to identify them all. The best part is that they're not taking themselves even remotely seriously.

When Red Symons happily tells the illegal immigrants that "We take bribes", or Kamahl asks us for the zillionth time why people are so unkind, one cannot help but laugh because it is all so utterly irreverent in a time when it should be. Forget about political correctness here - if you want to see Lebanese men acting like utter imbeciles while bikies, Italian gangsters, and bad Ronald McDonald clones give them hell, this is the film you've been waiting for. You will not find a scene where a stoned Anglo pizza delivery boy runs over cyclists and thinking he's scoring points for it in any American film before this one was made, I can garantee that. If you see it in one that was made after mid-2003, I can guarantee that it won't be nearly as funny.

Normally, I would never have considered this film because of its shameless appeal to the lowest common denominator, but it scores big because it represents a much-needed loosening of the collar in this day and age where minor mischief on the part of people who are treated like slaves in our society is treated like a spree of murders. Well done, Paul Fenech - people like you may well be the salvation of this blinkered, speak-no-evil society that none of us who were born in the 1970s or 1980s actually want. Ten out of ten for laughs, but minus two for going just a tiny bit too far at times (and even they were pretty funny because of the loosening up that the rest of the film offers).