By Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
‘Tis the season to be jolly – unless you’re talking about new Christmas Comedy, Fatman, then it’s time to be get angry and seek vengeance. Eshom and Ian Nelms write and direct the darkly-comical Fatman, that packs a social commentary that is timely given current world events. While the Movie’s general premise is all sorts of ridiculous, the performances from the Main Cast create what is the perfect Anti-Christmas movie.
The Movie focuses on Billy (Chance Hurstfield), a spoiled, rich kid who must always get his way. It’s holiday season and he is informed his father will not be making it home for Christmas. We also meet Chris Cringle (Mel Gibson) who is struggling to make ends meet for his business and is given the ever-daunting task of being Santa Claus. Chris always checks his list, and makes his deliveries around the world, but with kids behaving growingly worse in recent years, garnering more getting coal instead of presents, his business keeps declining. Chris makes the terrible mistake of giving Billy some coal. Billy in turn makes the Fatman pay for this, hiring a hitman who goes by the name of Skinny Man (Walton Goggins) to kill Santa Claus.
While the premise of Fatman is truly out there, the performances here pack a punch. Along with its comments on the world today, there genuinely are hilarious moments that make Fatman a deserving addition to your rotation of holiday classics. Gibson does his best sombre Santa and truly makes it seem that being Santa isn’t all its cracked up to be, while Chance Hurstfield plays the perfect adolescent bully. However, it is Walton Goggins who cranks it way up and delivers a brilliant, albeit insane performance. Goggins usually manages to crank-out performances like this, but it works particularly well in Fatman.
While this holiday season will certainly be different than others, what better time to indulge in an unconventional Holiday Movie than now? Fatman is hilarious, fun, and socially-targeted to let one indulge in a brief escape from the madness that lurks outside our doors. Let us enjoy the world that Eshom and Ian Nelms created for us this holiday season.
VVS Films release FATMAN on DVD, Blu-ray and On-Demand Tuesday November 24, 2020.
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