Perhaps the most interesting thing about James Mangold's Sundance Award-winning film "Heavy" is the way the movie succeeds in spite of itself.

The film is likable enough; that's not really the problem. The film suffers from an air of pretension and a general state of confusion about what it wants to be that at many times frustrate the viewer.

The film centers around Victor, a shy, overweight pizza cook who labors in the shadow of his mother in her run-down (bordering on seedy) tavern. When a new girl is hired he seems to have a renewed interest in life, as well as a fixation with her. The plot seems simple enough, but Mangold never seems sure what the story he wants to tell is.

Is it a love story with the new girl, Callie, overturning convention and taking a chance on our lonely pizza man? If it is, Mangold never gives us anything that makes a relationship seem plausible - the two never have anything in common, and Victor's affections appear rooted in the physical attractiveness of Callie anyway, rendering such an "all humans are beautiful" treatment somewhat silly.

Or maybe it's a modern day "Fatso," a look at an overweight man's problems in his environment. There are a number of scenes where Victor is upset with his weight, and his assumption is that his appearance is the reason he cannot have Callie. He quits snacking and starts drinking diet shakes, but whenever trouble pops up he knows no other way to cope than to binge on Entemann's and Mounds bars. These scenes are given a lot of treatment in the film, but they don't go anywhere either. And when you try to factor in Victor's dreams of becoming a chef - it all just becomes a little too trite.

The film also recalls other small films: the atmosphere of the film, as well as the story of a young woman living in a small environment bring to mind "Ruby In Paradise" while the snippets of life centering around an eating establishment read like a sequel to "Mystic Pizza."

"Heavy" never seems to absorb these elements and create its own identity, however, and that's frustrating.

The performances of Liv Tyler, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Shelley Winters manage to rise above these problems with the narrative.

Vince brings a breathtaking human quality to Victor, letting his facial expressions color his character and provide a person no one could dislike. Vince takes a shy character, and turns him into a warm human who speaks volumes about his surroundings with his silence.

Shelley Winters, in a smaller role, is comfortable letting restraint (a word not usually associated with Winters) and a smile turn her character into the heart of the film.

Tyler also seems well cast, though she is no doubt playing herself, as she brings a similar character to the one I saw her play in the wretched "Empire Records" to the screen here. Strikingly attractive, Tyler plays a girl too airy to understand how her actions affect those around her. She is also too naive to recognize the troubled relationship she is in with her gas station boyfriend and too kind to let the charm of the quiet pizza man go unnoticed. The interaction between these three is riveting and never hits a false note.

And for all of Mangold's poetic posturing with the camera, for all of Thurston Moore's heavy handed avant-garde noodling on the soundtrack, the best moments in the film come from incidental scenes. They come in Victor's refusal to tell anyone about his mother's death, a throwaway scene in a hospital cafeteria and a visit to the culinary institute. These scenes best radiate the appeal of the film.

"Heavy" is a worthy film, if for no other reasons than the acting of its principals and the charm of their surroundings. It just would have been better if it had a focus.

"Heavy" plays at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. For more info, call 795-7777.

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