Having Nikki B in it was a winning combination for me to watch this movie though I am not the biggest Lifetime movie fanatic. I have to say that though the movie does have some very honest points, it also reminds me why I am not a big lover of life time movies. Nikki B was absolutely charming in this role as an over-weight teenager picked on and prodded by the other kids in her school. Not being the prettiest, not most popular person of any group is always hard and I think that she conveyed that with a style and grace like no other. I even understood and empathized with her in almost ever situation but at times it was a little whiney and slow to move forward with the story and the plot. The movie really didn't need to be the length that it was because sometimes it dragged on and made you more annoyed at the characters, all of them, and I don't think it was trying to. All in all it is nice TV movie with some positive merits-not award winning though by any standard.
13 Reviews
Size matters
jotix1003 December 2008
In our society, being different can be a terrible experience, specially for a youngster who should be enjoying that stage of her life. Being overweight carries a stigma for insecure people. The cruelty of their peers can be devastating for a young person who finds rejection every way she turns.
Take Maggie, a girl being raised by her working mother. Because of her size, she is made the butt of all jokes at the high school she attends. To make matters worse, as a prank, she is entered as a candidate for the Prom Queen, something that, as a rule, is reserved for those popular and cute girls whose popularity among the student body assures them of the title. Maggie proves to be an excellent contestant who proves that no matter what size she wears, she still a winner.
The film wouldn't be half the fun it is had Nikki Blonsky not being cast as Maggie. As she had shown in "Hairspray", Ms. Blonsky is a talented actress that one hopes will keep on being cast in movies that rely on her bubbly personality to carry the picture. Annie Potts, who we haven't seen in a while, shows up as Nikki's overworked mother. Peter Levin directed with style giving the viewer a nice excuse to watch "Queen Sized".
Take Maggie, a girl being raised by her working mother. Because of her size, she is made the butt of all jokes at the high school she attends. To make matters worse, as a prank, she is entered as a candidate for the Prom Queen, something that, as a rule, is reserved for those popular and cute girls whose popularity among the student body assures them of the title. Maggie proves to be an excellent contestant who proves that no matter what size she wears, she still a winner.
The film wouldn't be half the fun it is had Nikki Blonsky not being cast as Maggie. As she had shown in "Hairspray", Ms. Blonsky is a talented actress that one hopes will keep on being cast in movies that rely on her bubbly personality to carry the picture. Annie Potts, who we haven't seen in a while, shows up as Nikki's overworked mother. Peter Levin directed with style giving the viewer a nice excuse to watch "Queen Sized".
I wish I could give this more than 4 stars
MBunge2 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I was really on the fence about this ambitious yet schizophrenic Lifetime movie. It's equally bold and hesitant, complicated and scattered, sophisticated and superficial. What these filmmakers are trying to do is admirable. The way they do it is largely disappointing. What finally tipped me toward the negative are the visual and audial stylings, which are the worst clichés from every bad MTVesque reality show about high school.
Maggie Baker (Nikki Blonsky) is a fat girl in high school who gets nominated for homecoming queen as a cruel joke and decides to take advantage of the opportunity. She embraces the campaign and wins, only to face the tough lesson that she doesn't need to change the way others see her. She needs to change the way she sees herself.
There were a lot of very good creative decisions made here. Maggie isn't plump or a little overweight. She's fat to the point where walking briskly is a physical challenge. It makes it so much easier to take the messages of this film seriously because Maggie is actually obese, not just "Hollywood fat". And while Maggie had an overweight father, her own weight isn't excused as genetic. Maggie's so heavy because she's a compulsive comfort eater who turns to secret stashes of food to smother her self-loathing, which is very cleverly represented by a glamorized fantasy image of Maggie's thin mother (Annie Potts) that viciously undermines her again and again. And when Maggie is voted queen and gets a bunch of positive attention, she's unprepared for it and handles it in a poor but quite human manner. I liked all these parts of Queen Sized.
On the other hand, the tone and tenor of this whole production is on the level of a cheesy sitcom, just without the laugh track. The main supporting characters, the mom and Maggie's smart mouth best friend Casey (Lily Holleman), are tremendously inconsistent. They vacillate from supporting to enabling Maggie's weakness to representing the face of anti-fat prejudice without there ever being any rhythm or structure to the changes. And even though this is about the popular kids vs. the outcasts, the movie chickens out by making the popular girl in school a good person and relegating all the mean behavior to her hanger-on best friend, who's about as two-dimensionally malevolent as a scrap of Heinrich Himmler's personal stationary. And giving Maggie a hunky Latino guy friend who clearly would have been her boyfriend if she gave the slightest encouragement, then treating the character like an afterthought, was ill considered at best. I did not like those parts of Queen Sized.
But it's the relentless use of high speed high school montages, generic guitar riffs and overplayed hit songs that tips things from a split decision to a bad motion picture. There's no purpose served at all by such aggressive, intrusive gimmickry. If the director felt he needed to contribute something, he should have massaged Annie Potts' feet rather than spray such tired editing techniques and sound cues all over the movie.
I wish the negatives of Queen Sized didn't outweigh its positives but wishing doesn't make it so. There might still be some value here for a young person dealing with their own body image issues. If you're fine with what you see in the mirror, though, you won't be fine with what you see on the screen.
Maggie Baker (Nikki Blonsky) is a fat girl in high school who gets nominated for homecoming queen as a cruel joke and decides to take advantage of the opportunity. She embraces the campaign and wins, only to face the tough lesson that she doesn't need to change the way others see her. She needs to change the way she sees herself.
There were a lot of very good creative decisions made here. Maggie isn't plump or a little overweight. She's fat to the point where walking briskly is a physical challenge. It makes it so much easier to take the messages of this film seriously because Maggie is actually obese, not just "Hollywood fat". And while Maggie had an overweight father, her own weight isn't excused as genetic. Maggie's so heavy because she's a compulsive comfort eater who turns to secret stashes of food to smother her self-loathing, which is very cleverly represented by a glamorized fantasy image of Maggie's thin mother (Annie Potts) that viciously undermines her again and again. And when Maggie is voted queen and gets a bunch of positive attention, she's unprepared for it and handles it in a poor but quite human manner. I liked all these parts of Queen Sized.
On the other hand, the tone and tenor of this whole production is on the level of a cheesy sitcom, just without the laugh track. The main supporting characters, the mom and Maggie's smart mouth best friend Casey (Lily Holleman), are tremendously inconsistent. They vacillate from supporting to enabling Maggie's weakness to representing the face of anti-fat prejudice without there ever being any rhythm or structure to the changes. And even though this is about the popular kids vs. the outcasts, the movie chickens out by making the popular girl in school a good person and relegating all the mean behavior to her hanger-on best friend, who's about as two-dimensionally malevolent as a scrap of Heinrich Himmler's personal stationary. And giving Maggie a hunky Latino guy friend who clearly would have been her boyfriend if she gave the slightest encouragement, then treating the character like an afterthought, was ill considered at best. I did not like those parts of Queen Sized.
But it's the relentless use of high speed high school montages, generic guitar riffs and overplayed hit songs that tips things from a split decision to a bad motion picture. There's no purpose served at all by such aggressive, intrusive gimmickry. If the director felt he needed to contribute something, he should have massaged Annie Potts' feet rather than spray such tired editing techniques and sound cues all over the movie.
I wish the negatives of Queen Sized didn't outweigh its positives but wishing doesn't make it so. There might still be some value here for a young person dealing with their own body image issues. If you're fine with what you see in the mirror, though, you won't be fine with what you see on the screen.
For a movie that is anti-stereotypes it's sure full of them.
kecason20 August 2008
I just finished this movie. I'll admit coming in I was skeptical but I figured I'd give it a chance, being a big girl myself. I half wish I had never watched it. It was filled with fat people stereotypes, such as, every fat person has 10 things of junk food hidden around the room, fat people have pictures of skinny people plastered on their walls (some with their heads on skinny bodies), that whenever fat people are upset they freak out and need to run to the fridge, etc. I was so offended by the obvious stereotypes in a movie that was supposed to be about fighting stereotypes that it about made me sick. Sure not all popular people are mean, all jocks aren't jerks, etc. But a fat person has to love food like it's crack. I will say that the movie did have some good inspirational times but they were just shot down by unrealistic moments. I am really disappointed by this movie.
Good and On Target
AnnaShade2 February 2008
While this movie did have a few moments of unbelievable moments, it was right on target. I've been reading a few of the posts about this movie and I admire a particular poster who had gone through something similar and made it to the other side.
As a girl who is going through something similar, I can identify with this movie. I am just beginning to recognize some of the signs of an addiction to self-medicating food, like Maggie in the movie. This movie made me realize I have to stop while I can. I know it isn't just because it tastes good, Maggie NEEDS it. It's like drugs to a druggie or alcohol to an alcoholic; it's an addiction that is done to make her feel better.
This movie addresses a discrimination that is all over this country. We've all heard it: so many Americans out of so many Americans are obese. The ones who aren't obese are scared of being obese, and when they see that in someone else they tear into them -- it's almost like a way of protecting themselves from it.
Watch this movie and see it for what it is: an address of an issue that is only getting worse.
As a girl who is going through something similar, I can identify with this movie. I am just beginning to recognize some of the signs of an addiction to self-medicating food, like Maggie in the movie. This movie made me realize I have to stop while I can. I know it isn't just because it tastes good, Maggie NEEDS it. It's like drugs to a druggie or alcohol to an alcoholic; it's an addiction that is done to make her feel better.
This movie addresses a discrimination that is all over this country. We've all heard it: so many Americans out of so many Americans are obese. The ones who aren't obese are scared of being obese, and when they see that in someone else they tear into them -- it's almost like a way of protecting themselves from it.
Watch this movie and see it for what it is: an address of an issue that is only getting worse.
Terrible movie
namiyakou22 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I found Hairspray not bad and generally like actors and actresses that are not super slim and super pretty as well every now and then, so I gave this movie a shot.
Bit mistake. Nikki's acting is not very good, as is the acting of the others... The worst part though is the whole plot and conversation writing! It's boring, cliché, and negative!
I expected it to be a story about a big girl showing the others that bigger people are just as good. Instead this is a movie where the main character cries every 5 minutes, whines, is negative, treats her friends like crap and acts bitchier than all the thin chicks together. Her mom is unlikable, every 2nd word being about 'losing weight'. In the end, the main character still is an undeserving girl, and it all 'turned out well' for no reason what-so-ever.
Personally, there was nothing in this movie, nothing at all that I could say I liked... except the Asian guy maybe.
Bit mistake. Nikki's acting is not very good, as is the acting of the others... The worst part though is the whole plot and conversation writing! It's boring, cliché, and negative!
I expected it to be a story about a big girl showing the others that bigger people are just as good. Instead this is a movie where the main character cries every 5 minutes, whines, is negative, treats her friends like crap and acts bitchier than all the thin chicks together. Her mom is unlikable, every 2nd word being about 'losing weight'. In the end, the main character still is an undeserving girl, and it all 'turned out well' for no reason what-so-ever.
Personally, there was nothing in this movie, nothing at all that I could say I liked... except the Asian guy maybe.
Horrible Hateful Trash
myspecialparadise15 October 2012
This is one of the worse movies ever made! It was so bad that I will never be able to watch anything, ever again, with Annie Potts in it. Why can't actors get it that the role you play can very easily destroy your career! Frankly, seeing Annie Potts in the future will definitely bring this movie role back up ... destroying anything new she does.
The movie on a whole is pathetic. The script was obviously created by someone that hates fat people ... to excess! No one runs to the fridge, tosses everything out of the freezer in search of mint ice cream ... they scream, they cry, they pout, they scream a little more ... and then they punish themselves by eating everything in sight! If everyone treats you badly ... you get into the same line they are standing in ... and ... what you do to yourself is a million times worse than what they do to you! Basically, there are only two reasons a person is over weight ... a physical/biological problem ... or ... a mental/emotional problem! Either way, whomever sets out to create more problems for someone that already has a full plate ... well ... they are, simply, not worth the air they breathe! If you are into hating people ... by all means, watch this movie! If not, then pass this one by! LadyShalene
The movie on a whole is pathetic. The script was obviously created by someone that hates fat people ... to excess! No one runs to the fridge, tosses everything out of the freezer in search of mint ice cream ... they scream, they cry, they pout, they scream a little more ... and then they punish themselves by eating everything in sight! If everyone treats you badly ... you get into the same line they are standing in ... and ... what you do to yourself is a million times worse than what they do to you! Basically, there are only two reasons a person is over weight ... a physical/biological problem ... or ... a mental/emotional problem! Either way, whomever sets out to create more problems for someone that already has a full plate ... well ... they are, simply, not worth the air they breathe! If you are into hating people ... by all means, watch this movie! If not, then pass this one by! LadyShalene
Horrible Movie!
bxmamipr10 March 2020
I am so sick of these movies about fat people mad at the world because they cry about not fitting in as they stuff their fat faces with a non stop smorgasbord throughout the whole movie. They make everyone uncomfortable because if anyone looks in their direction they lose it and accuse everyone of judging them. I was heavy in high school and lost weight, so I'm definitely not judgemental. But this movie made me wish I could slap the mess out of the main character. Everything is poor me, poor me, she has the worst attitude ever, blames the world for her poor life choices, and stuffs her face with every piece of junk food she can get her hands on in the city non stop. Then you hear the whole I try to lose weight, I can't, you don't understand everytime her mom tries to help her get healthier because her dad recently died of Diabetes. This is one of the most irritating movies I have ever seen. It is an hour and a half of an endless self pity party for someone blaming the world for their bad decisions, and making everyone else uncomfortable and insignificant, all while stuffing their face with junk food in every scene.
Glossy and important
nightroses27 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
There is a really interesting issue in this film but the message is not coming across. That should be throughout the whole film and not left in one little speech by her mother's friend, or by Maggie's success. Fat or overweight girls have always been left out of these events, so Maggie proves that she can overcome stereotypes. It was a happy ending, and the film throughout comes across as a jolly school story. I didn't like Maggie's selfish speech on her TV interview that was not in character, and it made her lose friends. I also didn't like that the mean girl was never caught and punished for destroying posters for another girl as this was blamed on Maggie. I didn't like that Maggie's father had been dead, because it gives a vacuum to Maggie's home life that shouldn't be there. She is already bullied at school for her weight so the death of her father rubs salt in. The mother came across as uncaring in the first half of the movie but throughout the film Maggie imagines her mother's "ego" tormenting and bullying her about her weight. I've seen films by Stars Media and they do make magical feel good films.
Very uplifting.
Tenchi6458921 August 2008
I saw this movie when it first came on in early 2008, and I have to say that this has got to be one of the most positive movies based on a true story I've ever seen.
Being the polar opposite of Nikki's character, I may not have known her plight, but I do know that there is no way a person should ever go through what Maggie did.
I have to say that this is a movie that everyone should see no matter your gender, body shape or age.
To me, it represents making a seemingly impossible impact, which is what Maggie did, despite the teasing and the backlash of her supporters.
It's rare, but my verdict is a 10 out of 10.
Being the polar opposite of Nikki's character, I may not have known her plight, but I do know that there is no way a person should ever go through what Maggie did.
I have to say that this is a movie that everyone should see no matter your gender, body shape or age.
To me, it represents making a seemingly impossible impact, which is what Maggie did, despite the teasing and the backlash of her supporters.
It's rare, but my verdict is a 10 out of 10.
Queen Sized- Fat is Beautiful ***1/2
edwagreen13 January 2008
You really have to be plump to understand what heavy people go through. Just like it says in the film, if you denounce a race, you're a racist. What do we call people who show prejudice towards heavy individuals?
Nikki Blonsky, of "Hairspray" fame, does a beautiful acting job here detailing what heavy set people go through. Yes, they are literally outcasts in this society.
When the vicious in-kids nominate her for "Homecoming Queen," just for laughs, Blonsky decides to pursue the dream. She is running for all the nerds. It's time that we stop stereotyping what we automatically want in a homecoming queen.
What makes the film so good is that it's shown that the Blonsky character is without faults herself. The redemption of many of the characters by film's end is just great to watch.
We can all learn from this. If it weren't for all those health concerns regarding fat people, we could certainly say that fat is beautiful.
Nikki Blonsky, of "Hairspray" fame, does a beautiful acting job here detailing what heavy set people go through. Yes, they are literally outcasts in this society.
When the vicious in-kids nominate her for "Homecoming Queen," just for laughs, Blonsky decides to pursue the dream. She is running for all the nerds. It's time that we stop stereotyping what we automatically want in a homecoming queen.
What makes the film so good is that it's shown that the Blonsky character is without faults herself. The redemption of many of the characters by film's end is just great to watch.
We can all learn from this. If it weren't for all those health concerns regarding fat people, we could certainly say that fat is beautiful.
Three times is the charm
joyceday14 January 2008
I can't believe I'm watching this three nights in a row but something about it just keeps drawing me back. Being a former geek, especially in grammar and junior high school, I can really relate to Nikki's character. I too would have preferred invisibility over non-stop attention but of the negative kind. I can also relate to coming out of dorkdom but still acting and feeling like a victim, wondering if everyone still perceived me that way. I can't say that I don't still carry my own Annie Potts figure around in my mind at times and found that to be one of the most interesting aspect of the show. The acting, especially by Ms. Blonsky, was uniformly excellent and I found Fabian Moreno to be quite interesting and not hard on the eyes. I also liked that Nikki's character proved to have flaws of her own and that she allowed her fifteen minutes of fame to go to her head. Also interesting was that her competition for homecoming queen proved to be quite nice. I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone looking for something meaningful.
A positive experience
PeachHamBeach7 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Nikki Blonsky does a wonderful job in this story about a lovely but overweight teenager struggling to overcome the hatred and ridicule of her high school peers.
Anyone with weight or food issues will be able to relate to the scenes of Maggie, tears of hurt and frustration and self-loathing streaming down her face, grabs a carton of ice cream and eats as fast as she can, so that it will hurry up and "numb" those terrible emotions.
Thin, pretty, popular but despotic girls play a horrible prank on Maggie by nominating her for Homecoming Queen, using an unflattering photo of her at a recent party. Their hazing, however, backfires when Maggie courageously decides to take them up on their "offer". Against the odds, she ends up winning the title.
Not to be outfoxed, the mean pretty girls are hell-bent on humiliating and defeating the intentions of the girl they hate, a girl who, for whatever reason, is overweight. For some reason, these thin, popular girls are threatened by this "fat girl", and hate her so much that several of them actually become physically uglier as the movie progresses, especially Liz, a vindictive bitch if there ever was one.
The most impressive little twist in this above-average TV movie is the fact that Maggie ends up making a mistake: not acknowledging the dedication and support of her closest friends, who, long before this Homecoming thing started, were always at her side, always including her, always accepting her for who she is. Maggie ends up realizing that in spite of her struggles and victories, she is not perfect either, and that sometimes she needs to open her eyes and recognize her achievements instead of dwelling on the hate and persecution. After all, dwelling on the bad only gives the mean girls a feeling of power and victory they don't deserve, right? If you enjoyed BEAUTIFUL GIRL, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES or PHAT GIRLS, I think you'll like QUEEN SIZED.
Anyone with weight or food issues will be able to relate to the scenes of Maggie, tears of hurt and frustration and self-loathing streaming down her face, grabs a carton of ice cream and eats as fast as she can, so that it will hurry up and "numb" those terrible emotions.
Thin, pretty, popular but despotic girls play a horrible prank on Maggie by nominating her for Homecoming Queen, using an unflattering photo of her at a recent party. Their hazing, however, backfires when Maggie courageously decides to take them up on their "offer". Against the odds, she ends up winning the title.
Not to be outfoxed, the mean pretty girls are hell-bent on humiliating and defeating the intentions of the girl they hate, a girl who, for whatever reason, is overweight. For some reason, these thin, popular girls are threatened by this "fat girl", and hate her so much that several of them actually become physically uglier as the movie progresses, especially Liz, a vindictive bitch if there ever was one.
The most impressive little twist in this above-average TV movie is the fact that Maggie ends up making a mistake: not acknowledging the dedication and support of her closest friends, who, long before this Homecoming thing started, were always at her side, always including her, always accepting her for who she is. Maggie ends up realizing that in spite of her struggles and victories, she is not perfect either, and that sometimes she needs to open her eyes and recognize her achievements instead of dwelling on the hate and persecution. After all, dwelling on the bad only gives the mean girls a feeling of power and victory they don't deserve, right? If you enjoyed BEAUTIFUL GIRL, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES or PHAT GIRLS, I think you'll like QUEEN SIZED.
See also
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