LAFF 2013: ALL OF ME

A scene from All of Me.

The weight of the girls

By Miranda Inganni

Director-producer Alexandra Lescaze’s documentary film, All of Me, chronicles the trials and tribulations of a group of friends as they struggle with weight loss. But this is no small feat – the majority of the women in this film are morbidly obese.

Zsalynn, Judy and Dawn and the rest of the “Girls” rely on their Austin, Texas-based group of BBW, or Big Beautiful Women, for support and friendship. Most of the women have tried traditional diets, pills and other measures to reduce their sizes, yet to no avail. While some of the gals are comfortable with their size and appearance, they are all tired of the stigma and “fat shaming.” The obese women in All of Me want to find “normal” men to date and hopefully marry, only to end up with men who fetishize obese women. And, most importantly, the women want to live long, healthy lives. That is when some of them turn to surgery. Be it gastric bypass or gastric-band surgery, the ladies strive to lose hundreds of pounds. But there is no quick fix and surgery, when available as an option, is not a guarantee. With the failures and successes come some unexpected psychological ramifications. While some of the women may gain confidence as they lose weight, confidences are broken as the group’s numbers dwindle.

Over 200,000 Americans have weight loss surgery every year often at a great financial and psychological cost. All of Me does not try to tackle why so many Americans are overweight, nor does it delve into the mental anguish with which this group of women all seemingly struggle. While it touches on some of the ladies’ backgrounds on why they are obese, it mostly reports the weight loss surgeries that Judy and Dawn go through and Zsalynn’s effort to find the balance between what she wants and what is attainable. All of Me sensitively shines the light on one group of overweight women and how they try to adjust not only their bodies, but their self-images as well.


All of Me screens at the Los Angeles Film Festival, today, 4:40 p.m., Regal Cinemas. For more information: All of Me at LAFF 2013.

NEWPORT BEACH 2012: WORTH THE WEIGHT



LaShawna (Constance Reese) and Miles (Tommy Snider) in Worth the Weight.

Fat chance

By Ed Rampell

Worth the Weight is in the tradition of Paddy Chayefsky’s 1955  film, Marty, a realistic look at love among ordinary people. Like Ernest Borgnine as the Bronx butcher in that Best Picture Oscar winner, Robbie Kaller plays a meaty plebian character yearning for romance. Sam is a washed up university athlete whose football injury put the kibosh on his NFL and college aspirations, leading to enormous weight gain and an unglamorous bowling alley career.

Weighing an estimated 411 Sam enters into a weight loss contest with his roommate and friends where he also meets Cassie (Jillian Leigh), an attractive trainer (not “a coach!”) at “Fat Cutters.” Leigh renders an intriguing character study, as a young woman ensnared in an unsatisfying romance with pretentious poet Stephan (Bryan Bellamo), who contrasts sharply with the earthy, good natured Sam. What’s a woman to do?

This romantic comedy’s supporting cast includes Constance Reese as LaShawna, who lights up every scene she’s in as the girlfriend of quirky Miles (Tommy Snider). Coincidentally, Reese portrayed Michelle Obama in a musical about the First Family -- this film’s theme is a perfect fit for the First Lady’s anti-obesity campaign.

Director Ryan Sage’s feature debut, which won the Beverly Hills Film Festival’s Audience Award, is also an excellent example of low budget indies shot with DV cameras.