fatman (2020) Review
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First things first: Mel Gibson is not fat. Calling him chubby is a stretch. I don’t know that I laughed more than once or twice during the relentlessly grim Fatman. That’s problematic as the film is marketed as a dark comedy. I went in hoping and expecting something reminiscent of the moody fun of holiday classic Bad Santa. Fatman is no Bad Santa. The latter is unceasingly gloomy yet uplifting by films end whereas Fatman is a meandering slog that doesn’t know if it wants to be funny or commentary on the corporatization of Christmas. There are some interesting ideas at play but none are crystallized. None of the characters feel fleshed out or believable. Child actor Chance Hurstfield does all he can with a “my parents are rich and give me things but don’t actually care about me” backstory we’ve seen a thousand times before. Walter Goggins' Jonathan Miller gets all the best scenes and has some real darkness bubbling under the surface. Goggins has a commanding leading man presence but the shock of seeing people randomly murdered diminishes after the third or fourth time. It doesn’t help that we are left to figure out for ourselves why he is the way he is. He’s obsessed with vintage toys from Santa’s shop. Why? Take a guess. Writers Eshom and Ian Nelms thought up a promising premise but aren't able to execute a logical or thematically compelling story around said premise. The trailer presents the film as a clever and fresh take on the holiday film. It isn't. There is nothing here to warrant a recommendation. It’s quite uninspired and a chore to watch. I really wanted to like it.
Fatman receives a 4/10 for general audiences and a 5/10 if you just need to watch a non-traditional holiday movie (watch Bad Santa instead).