Fat Slags (film)

Plot

The film chronicles the (mis)adventures of Sandra (Fiona Allen) and Tracey (Sophie Thompson), the famously vulgar and crass Fat Slags of the title. The pair leave their home town of Fulchester for London, shagging and boozing their way to fame and fortune. On the day the Fat Slags arrive in London, internationally renowned billionaire Sean Cooley (Jerry O'Connell) suffers a blow to the head, rendering him temporarily insane. When he spots Sandra and Tracey on a daytime chat show he falls for their larger-than-life outlook. A media sensation is brought about when Cooley forces fashion designer Fidor Konstantin (James Dreyfus) to base his upcoming collection on the Fat Slags. In a whirlwind turn of events, Sandra and Tracey take the United Kingdom by storm, hitting #1 in the record charts and inadvertently winning the Turner Prize. As far as the press is concerned, fat is the new black. Throughout their journey into the world of fame, the Slags maintain their unique and endearing vulgarity, coupled with an innocence that draws the British public to their cause. However, in private, jealousy is driving a wedge between Sandra and Tracey as they vie for Cooley's attentions. Only when he regains his mental faculties and turns on the girls do they realise that their friendship is the only real thing they have in the mad world they have become a part of.

Cast

Reception

Fat Slags received near unanimously negative reviews and was widely panned by critics. The Sun said "There may still be some diehard Viz aficionados who'll love every second of this film - but I'm one and I didn't," while The Guardian stated "It has plenty of gross-out stuff, but chucked in with an eerie lack of enjoyment or conviction. Depression seeps out of the screen like carbon monoxide." Graham Dury stated that Rita, Sue and Bob Too was a more accurate live action depiction of the comic book characters. It was also claimed he was so appalled by the film, that he stopped drawing the strips and it was dropped from Viz though that proved unfounded as the strip was never dropped. British film historian I.Q. Hunter, discussing the question "What is the worst British film ever made?", listed Fat Slags as one of the contenders for that title.