As an NYFD firefighter working the overnight shift at Engine Company 55, Steve Buscemi popped a VHS tape into the station’s player and experienced John Huston’s Fat City for the first time. Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name and adapted for the screen by its author Leonard Gardner, the film centers around boxing and life in the hard-scrabble central California town of Stockton. Former champ Tully (Stacy Keach) sets his sights on returning to the ring when he meets Ernie (Jeff Bridges), an eighteen-year-old who he takes under his wing. As their friendship and rivalry unfold, we meet the sherry-loving Ooma (Susan Tyrell), Ernie’s pregnant girlfriend Faye (Candy Clark), and boxing manager Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto), all of whom round out Huston’s tale of hope, desperation, and dignity.
We learn about Steve’s real-life encounter with Susan Tyrell, what he learned from his time as a teenage usher at the Belair Theater in Valley Stream, NY, and how Fat City inspired his own directorial debut, Trees Lounge.
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