source: Fat Kid Rules the World

From the beginning, I was hooked. Troy is such an easily relatable character in his thoughts and naïveté, even his home life. Marcus seemed like the complete opposite; tragically flawed and jaded by those who he was supposed to trust. Somehow there's magic within the pairing of two ends of such a broad spectrum, and this movie managed to capture that flawlessly! Mr. Billings at first appeared to be the typical tough dad with no personality other than strict and intimidating, but his obvious love for his sons and others combined with the absence of a maternal figure really added an unexpected but much loved dimension to his character. I loved every moment watching this film and it ended far too soon. I want more from this universe and these people but I'm fortunate to have spent even this much of my time with them. If you're offered the chance to watch this movie, don't hesitate to do so!

Troy (Jacob Wysocki) is the school fat kid. He is not bullied, but is alone and isolated. Marcus (Matt O'Leary) is the cool kid who likes drugs and plays in a punk band. He has been expelled and is living in the street. After a brief run in with Troy they become friends as Marcus apparently uses Troy. Troy realizes this but uses Marcus as his contact to the outside world, as twisted as it may be. Troy's father is an ex-Marine (Billy Campbell) and neither one of them has come to terms with the death of the mother. Dad is torn between his natural Marine protective instincts and needing to let go as a trusting parent. This film is classified as a comedy but is more of an indie light drama. The comedy aspect is sometimes obscure as when our fat kid imagines killing himself by stepping in front of a bus...a bus that has an ad on its side for "Fat-Away." Or when we see him reading the book "Lord of the Flies" a tale in which the fat kid is bullied to death. The film is well acted. It is heart warming while not being drippy. It may not make you laugh, but it will make you smile. A great indie film. How it got into my local Redbox is a mystery. Parental Guide: 1 f-bomb near the end. No sex, but people undressing for sex. Rear male nudity. See-through wet blouse. Masturbation scene. All these scenes were brief.

"Fat Kid Rules the World" is a title to a film that sounds like it is not all that great. When it comes to films, you should not judge a book--or in this case a movie--by its cover. In this case, I gave the film a shot and it was what I feared it would be, a slow moving snooze-fest. Based off the young adult novel of the same name by author KL Going, "Fat Kid Rules the World" follows an overweight teenager named Troy (Jacob Wysocki) who has no friends, a deceased mother, an athletic younger brother (Dylan Arnold), and a stern and stoic father (Billy Campbell). Troy ends up meeting Marcus (Matt O'Leary), a guitar player who is homeless and a drug addict. Troy and Marcus form a friendship, Marcus helping Troy come out of his shell and express himself, and Troy helping Marcus by being in a band with him, and at the end, helping him with his drug addiction. If you like movies about people in the lifespan of teenagers to young adults where they find out some stuff about themselves and become more confident or they change their life around, you will probably like this film. If you are looking for a movie to watch on a lazy rainy day, look somewhere else because this film is a bore. Five minutes of watching this film feels like thirty minutes in the real world where you are watching the movie. In a film like this, the chemistry between the two leads is what can make or break the movie. Troy and Marcus never feel like they are actually friends, but more like Marcus is being paid by someone to pretend to be Troy's friend and Troy is just following Marcus's every command without any thought on his part. The importance of the relationship to Troy is also bogged down by the addition of two additional friends (Lili Simmons and Tyler Trerise), taking away the importance because now Marcus is not Troy's only friend. None of the characters of the movie are all that interesting, with the exception of Troy's dad who is ironically the most stoic character in the whole film. When your one interesting character is the one who shows little to no emotion, you know you have a problem. "Fat Kid Rules the World" does not fall to the problems as other movies based on books where they are viewed as bad for the simple reason of the movie is not as good as the book. That is still the case with "Fat Kid", but the changes made from the book to better suit the movie do not work for the movie and the movie comes across as the team behind the film were given the plot points and the basic synopsis of the novel and were told to make a movie based on it without understanding the book in the first place.

First, let me say, congratulations to Jacob Wysocki for a wonderful performance in FKRtW. His Bath Boys history on YouTube has allowed for many doors to open -- and luckily for us, this is one of the doors that opens and reveals his talents. When it comes to the story, I was absolutely engaged and excited to experience that trials and tribulations of Troy, even if sometimes they weren't pretty or euphoric, whereas Matt O'Leary I felt as miscast. His struggles weren't believable and I felt almost took away from overall story. It was almost as if the actor was trying to glorify Matthew Lillard's (who also directed) performance in Scream. If it weren't for Mr. Wysocki or Billy Campbell (who plays the role of Troy's father brilliantly) or even the small role of Dayle (played by Dylan Arnold) then this would've been a huge miss. Overall, the movie was fantastic. However, due the a very cheesy ending, this otherwise 9/10 film gets 7/10 from me.

I haven't yet seen this yet, but in response to the review on Mathew Lillard, I did not realize people got beef with him. I think he's a great actor and all the friends I've known throughout life, has nothing but positive stuff to say about him. Of course, this was the 90s and I was a teenager at the time. I first discovered him in the movie Scream and I did enjoy him and the movie a lot! Once again, I was a teenager and this was the mid-90s. Then again, I thought he was AMAZING in SLC Punk. That used to be one of my favorite films when it came out and its been years since I've seen it. Then my bf and I watched it a few months ago, and its been forever... I forgot how well-written that film was and Lillard's performance was perfect! The only reason I would think anyone has issues with that guy is because he's not a mainstream actor and he lost his popularity in the 90s. And we all know how 'uncool' it is to like 90s actors. The only 90s actor who became popular, years after his time, is Paul Rudd. =]

So there is nothing new or particularly exciting about this movie. It's the story of who's not popular, a catalyst occurs, and then he is popular. It's a story that's been done before many times, Angus, Simon Birch, that one where Patrick Dempsey paid a cool girl to pretend to date him. That being said I did really enjoy watching this movie and would recommend it to others. Marcus and Troy's Father were both great performances and everyone else was really good. There were some fun scenes watching Marcus causing chaos here and there. It was interesting watching Troy's evolution throughout the movie. I wasn't quite emotionally invested enough for the OD scene to affect me but I did feel somewhat elated at the movies conclusion. Again it's nothing your going to be talking about with your friends for weeks on end but a pretty pleasant way to spend an evening if you don't have that option.

Troy is an obese lonely video-gamer loser in school. He lives with his father (Billy Campbell) and brother. He tries to kill himself by stepping in front of a bus and he's saved by Marcus. Marcus is an unreliable homeless school drop-out guitarist. Even his bandmates have kicked him out. Marcus starts using Troy for a place to stay and food to eat while claiming to start a band with him. Troy maintains his friendship with Marcus despite his father's reservations. Troy is a hormonal teen in love with Marcus' friend Isabelle (Lili Simmons). Marcus is really annoying at the beginning. It takes a long time before he shows any signs of passing friendship with Troy. He does grow as a character and the friendship becomes more. Troy is a really passive person but he also grows too. The father is interesting because he's not yet another clueless adult in a teen movie. It's a slow start but it gets better. It's pretty good work for Matthew Lillard's directorial debut.

I have been a fan of Matthew Lillard since scream (one of my favorite horror series) I even watched without a paddle and SLC punk just for Lillards performance. This being his directorial debut I couldn't resist giving it a watch. The movie really caught my attention early on, it reminded me of other quirky films such as Napoleon Dynamite and Juno. I could really tell Lillard was passionate about the source material making it all that much better, I felt the film really picked up and was at it's best at the concert where Troy realized the lifestyle he was missing out on and I know this subject of bullying and a "loser" find a niche and becomes "popular" has been beat over the head but this movie did a really good job at telling this story. That being said the ending sort of dragged on a bit and abruptly ended without (in my opinion) finishing the story it started. But all in all i recommend giving this film a look especially if your a fan of Lillard or of Zero to Hero tales. 6/10

I was pleasantly surprised after viewing Fat Kid... I too grew up chubby and withdrawn. I was attracted to characters like Marcus in my own life. Matt O'Leary plays a high powered, reckless poetic and tragic figure. A real hustler, and user of people. Jacob Wysoki who plays the part of Troy,is an excellent actor. He says so much with facial expressions, and he seems naive, but genuine. I grew up playing Rock music, it became my career and I have no regrets. I only wish I had the kind of love and support Troys character enjoyed. The father ,played by Billy Campbell was so understanding, and nurturing. Obviously making up for the lack of a mother in the home. I recommend this sweet and positive film. They are so rare and hard to come by. It was sentimental without being sappy.