HEAVYWEIGHTS

'''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 '').

Contents

Plot

Cast

Trivia

External links

Plot

As school ends for the Summer, Gerald Garner (Aaron Schwartz) is sent by his parents to Camp Hope, a weight loss camp for boys. Despite worrying at first, Gerry makes friends easily at camp and learns that Camp Hope is actually a lot of fun and won't be nearly as bad as he thinks. He also discovers that the other campers have smuggled in enough junk food to easily stave off the hunger pangs and probably counteract any weight loss that the camp programs cause.
But all is not well at Camp Hope. The first night of the summer brings the revelation that the orignal owners of Camp Hope have entered bankruptcy and the camp 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 tries to make himself seem like someone the campers can relate to, saying that he was a fat kid when he was younger too, but his methods of motivating the campers border on psychotic.
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 a secret food stash and actually gain weight, despite Tony's fitness regimen. Tony forces them on a twenty-mile hike, reasoning that this will not only help the boys work off some of their extra weight, but will also restore discipline. 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.
In the celebration of Tony's downfall, there is a lot of binge eating. The boys order in pizzas, submarine sandwiches, gorge themselves on chocolate and drench themselves in soda.
The next morning, Pat tells the kids to finally start taking responsibility and start actually losing weight. The boys begin following a more healthy regime and start to make Camp Hope a fun place again.
On parent's visiting day, the parents are shown a video of Tony's cruelty. While they are watchng, Tony escapes his prison and ends up exchanging quips and then blows with Gerry's father. In an attempt to make an impressive exit, Tony attempts a series of backflips, stumbles, and incapacitates himself. The parents tell Tony his days of terrorizing their kids are over. Tony's own father shows up to take the keys and deed for the camp away from his son to ensure this doesn't happen again.
But the campers don't want to leave Camp Hope. Despite Tony Perkis, the camp and the friends they have made are still a lot of fun. Pat Finley, a counselor who had come to Camp Hope every summer since he was 10, takes charge of the camp and the boys' diets. In the grand finale, Camp Hope wins the annual Apache Relay race against the rival sports camp for the first time in history.

Cast

★ 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

Trivia

★ The movie was filmed entirely in North Carolina.[1] at an actual summer camp, Camp Pinnacle. The Blob was, and still is used by campers.

★ This is the reason that some of the kids and staff wear Carolina Panthers apparel throughout the film, the team's PR people gave the cast the merchandise to help promote the team which was to begin its first season of play as the 29th National Football League franchise that September.

★ Ben Stiller's real life parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, 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 disguise 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.

★ Many of the actors in Heavyweights also appeared in ''The Mighty Ducks films''.

★ Rapper MC Lars got his stage name from Tom Hodge's character in this film.

★ This movie's content was on verge of getting a PG-13 rating because of the excessive use of language that wouldn't be found in a Disney movie, and the use of the word shit.

★ In the Apache Relay intelligence contest, the different category judges resemble figures that are famous for the area of knowledge. The mathematical judge is dressed as Albert Einstein, the art judge is dressed as Andy Warhol, and the American history judge is dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

External links

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