Now fatties have some idea how Indians must have felt all those years when people like Boris Karloff, Tony Curtis and Audrey Hepburn were portraying them in movies. The reason: While Dom DeLuise gained 20 pounds to star in this film, he doesn't look really fat, only pleasingly plump. Still, he is endearing as a man of 40 who believes that no crisis is so bad it can't be forgotten under mounds of lasagna, chocolate swirl ice cream and jelly do-nuts (with the jelly siphoned out and peanut butter cups inserted instead). Anne Bancroft, in her first feature film as writer-director, overburdens the comedy with brooding hints of psychological motivation and lets some unfunny scenes run on. (She's also her own worst actor, surprisingly, as DeLuise's shrill sister.) There are a lot of gently funny touches, though. One is DeLuise's visit to a "Chubby Checkers" diet group meeting, and Candice (House Calls) Azzara is charming as the trim new neighbor who hopes to steal Dom's heart from his stomach. It's a movie for everyone who ever stared at a plain green salad, without dressing, wishing it were a banana split. (PG)
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