At times a fascinating yet wholly underdeveloped HD-lensed feature, FEED is appropriately disgusting and frustrating all at the same time. The concept, concerning online fetish subcultures who admire fat women may be best served as a humorous link passed around via company email rather than a 110 minute feature film. The subject of 'fat admiration' may not seem all that foreign or disturbing at first (beauty is literally in the eye of the beholder) but the idea of a lifestyle dedicated to 'feeders' and 'gainers' may very well be. 'Feeders' being those who 'get off' on housing (what is virtually willing imprisonment) and over-feeding women for their own sexual stimulation. 'Gainers' are the women who seem to willingly succumb to this bizarre treatment. While confined to a bed, their 'captor' either funnels food directly down their throat or gleefully crams cheeseburgers into their mouth while masturbating. Now THAT'S hot!

Obsessed Australian cop Phillip (Patrick Thompson) forsakes a domineering relationship of his own (which is probably for the best) to head to the states in search of the proprietor of one such 'feeder' website (www.FeederX.com) and it's this very obsession that ultimately leads to his spiraling downfall (surprise, surprise). Phillip finds himself in Ohio, hot on the trail of our focused feeder Michael (played by Alex O'Loughlin), who turns out to be a far more interesting character than Phillip himself. But in the end, he's just that, a character. A character who's played a bit too comical and over the top to really work within the framework of this film.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

Fat is the new thin! (Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Film Society)

Director Brett Leonard (Lawnmower Man) shows his technical skills behind the camera, however the main issue I had with FEED was its unnecessary schizophrenic attitude. Unfocused, the film never decides what it truly wants to be. Is it a serious crime thriller, gross-out midnight movie, or black comedy? Without an even balance of any of these elements (or even a focus to ground us), the end result seems forced and poorly executed. Performances are mostly hit or miss, but I don't know if I can lay all of the blame on the actors. We linger far too long from scene to scene as these characters ponder the same situations...over and over and over again. Suffering from overlong moments of realization and an ending that just won't... end, FEED is at least 30-minutes too long.

Highlights include the films impressive special effects and clever fetish back story. If the film had spent more time focusing on this subculture and its participants rather than the cat and mouse police chase and childhood trauma (another lazy filmmaking device used to place blame here), it could have been a far more interesting film.

Thumbs Down. I wanted to like it, but in the end FEED managed to drown in its own excess.