Fat City

Two men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take different directions. The film tells the story of two boxers and their problems. One of them is on the decline of his career while the other one just begins his ascent in this sport. —Volker Boehm The stories of two men in working class Stockton, CA, they at either end of a career or potential career in boxing, are told, the two who meet by chance in working out at the same time at the local Y. The older of the two is thirty year old Billy Tully, a year out of the racket, he who is still trying to find his place in a post-boxing world as such needing to take whatever menial job he can find. As he still blames his former manager/trainer Ruben for how his career ended in not being there for him when it mattered, Billy turns to Oma, a barfly, for some sort of human connection. In how unsatisfied his life has become, something he unwilling to admit to anyone including himself, he contemplates the pipe dream of returning to the ring. The younger of the two is eighteen year old Ernie Munger, who, untrained and only boxing for fun, is encouraged by Billy to pursue it more seriously in going to talk to Ruben in Billy seeing in Ernie some natural talent as well as suitable physical attributes. While Ernie progresses in the sport, he ends up having some expectations, some unrealistic, about what it can accomplish for his life. Other things affecting his ultimate view of boxing is his relationship with girlfriend Faye, and seeing the experience of others around him, including Billy. —Huggo