After seeing a good documentary (or any good film, for that matter), its immediate power to get us thinking or inspire us to take any action probably lasts a day. We’ll talk about it at the water cooler the next morning, or we’ll bring it up over a dinner conversation about recent movies we saw. But other than that, one questions the ability of a film to genuinely inspire us to change something since most of us go back to the same person we were when we bought the movie ticket.
I have, however, come across docs that really stuck with me, if not necessarily for the filmmaking craftsmanship but for the powerful message carried by the story. After seeing An Inconvenient Truth, I really have closely monitored how much energy I use and how much trash I generate. Food, Inc. thoroughly shook my impression on the foods readily available to us in America. Bill Cunningham New York gave me permission to take what I love, make a livelihood out of it and love it even more. And thinking about Joan Rivers in A Piece of Work still makes me feel like a lazy bitch who needs to work harder.
Scrolling through the documentary section of Netflix the other night, I stumbled upon Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. To be honest, I really wasn’t expecting much. This one really took me by surprise. At some points, I even got choked up.
From the movie’s Facebook page:
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead introduces us to Joe Cross, a successful Australian business man who is 100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease. The film follows Joe’s personal mission to regain his health and reboot his body with a 60-day fruit and vegetable juice fast. On the road across America, he meets a truck driver named Phil Staples at an Arizona truck stop who is morbidly obese (492 lbs.), suffering from the same autoimmune disease as Joe and is “a cheeseburger away from a heart attack.” As Joe is recovering his health, Phil begins his own epic journey to get well. What emerges is nothing short of amazing – an inspiring tale of healing and human connection.
Several days later, I still can’t stop thinking about the movie and, most importantly, how I eat. Fruits and vegetables have moved to center stage. It’s a real game-changer, and I strongly encourage you to watch it.
Links:
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead on Netflix
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead on iTunes
RebootYourLife
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