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Average User Score: 7 (3 sources)

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LisaGansky

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Makes me sad that the score for this movie is so low. I really enjoyed it. Just goes to show what makes money in Hollywood these days, and that you can't always trust the critics... I found this movie really refreshing--a true gem. What a great...
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Makes me sad that the score for this movie is so low. I really enjoyed it. Just goes to show what makes money in Hollywood these days, and that you can't always trust the critics... I found this movie really refreshing--a true gem. What a great story, for a woman of size to find a dashing gentleman that likes her just how she is. The sub-plot was great too, exposing flaws in the fashion industry.

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Posted sep 12, 2007 2:00 am pt

• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  75
  Clumsily directed yet entertainingly written by Oakland native Nnegest Likké, Phat Girlz is like "Rocky" with cellulite. Or maybe "Pretty Woman" without all the bony butts. It has a lot of heart and soul, but it's almost never mean-spirited.

  by Peter Hartlaub | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  75
  This is a disarming and, in its own way, delightful vehicle for its star and executive producer, the comedian and actress Mo'Nique. Who could hate this movie?

  by Wesley Morris | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Daily News
  
  63
  The plus-size personality of comic actress Mo'Nique fills the screen in Phat Girlz, a sweet, if thinly plotted tale.

  by Robert Dominguez | Read Full Review »
• [+] Los Angeles Times
  
  50
  Likké should be applauded for tackling a subject that's bristling with sociopolitical thorns and that raises some provocative questions, particularly about what we find attractive in other people and why.

  by John Anderson | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  50
  The humor's vulgar and the plot feeble, but this is a cut above the gross-out comedies aimed at male teens, and its heroine and her gal pals keep the high jinks amiable.

  by Andrea Gronvall | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  42
  While it's a pleasure to watch the likeable Johnson open up and come out of her shell, Phat Girlz belongs to Mo'Nique, a grating, belligerent woman who alternates self-deprecating fat jokes with drama-queen meltdowns and simpering pleas for acceptance. Save it for the talk-show circuit, please.

  by Scott Tobias | Read Full Review »
• [+] LA Weekly
  
  40
  Mo'Nique's character here is so underwritten that the actress doesn't get a chance to really capitalize on her extra screen-time. Her sassy forte may be talking so straight-up she sounds crazy, but she seems a little advanced to be doing "yo mamma" jokes.

  by Mark Olsen | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  40
  Mo'Nique, a vet standup and sitcom performer whose sassy, brassy shtick isn't nearly enough to support material this insubstantial.

  by Joe Leydon | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  40
  Barely written and stiffly directed.

  by Nathan Lee | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
  
  38
  If it weren't for Mo'Nique's fresh, appealing screen presence, Phat Girlz would fall flat.

  by Jennie Punter | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  30
  The writing is rudimentary and the direction often awkward, but Mo'Nique would confound a veteran director.

  by Kirk Honeycutt | Read Full Review »
• [+] Film Threat
  
  30
  Lackluster dialogue, ludicrously unbelievable storyline, and the fact that the entire film looks and sounds like it was shot on a camcorder mean nobody outside of the studio's target demographic is likely to check this out.

  by Pete Vonder Haar | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  25
  Even Mo'Nique's outsize presence isn't enough to make ancient gags about stuck-up popular girls or about voluptuous vultures clearing a whole buffet table in one fell swoop funny.

  by Maitland McDonagh | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  25
  The film is amateurishly directed and sluggishly paced with an anorexic plot. Even the photography, sound and costumes are substandard.

  by Kyle Smith | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  25
  Jazmin's so fat that the movie reduces her to a single discernible characteristic, which is a telltale mark of many a wholly awful comedy.

  by Gregory Kirschling | Read Full Review »