Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

This is a rip off Super Size Me. Hysterics. But in a sick way, good news. It means that men start to care about their own health. The bad news is that it goes the same way as the general direction for women: depression and eating disorders labeled as "I take care of my body". And if you take a moment to think it's all the S&M Christianity has ever offered: exercise is a way to punish the body. Even the producer says "we have to take him away from any temptation". Like with the anti vaccines nuts, the nutrition nuts do not have much science to back them, but they do have guilt in seemingly unlimited quantities. And the same way, as the diseases we vaccinate for are hard to notice, the same way famine is hard to notice. So food is bad. Pleasure is bad. The alternative is not happiness, the alternative is a dark place which will lead you to some sort of invisible paradise. Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

On the surface, the film almost seems like an infomercial, as for its first half it follows Cross on a trek to America, to go on a 60 day juice fast. That is, the fortysomething Cross, who weighed in at over 300 pounds, at the start of the documentary, decides to end his years of dependency on steroids and medicines, to treat an autoimmune deficiency, as well as his high-flying lifestyle, so that he can get and stay healthy. He sees a doctor, gets an OK to begin his change in diet, then spends the first month in New York City, before heading out on a cross-country trek to spread his gospel of juicing fruits and vegetables for their easily digested vitamin and nutrient content. The film then follows the lives of a few people Cross encounters, gets the typical man in the street condescension, as well as a few converts, until, at about midpoint, Cross encounters a truck driver, in Arizona, named Phil Staples, who dwarfs Cross's weight, and checks in at over 400 pounds. When Cross's fast ends, and he is almost a hundred pounds lighter, he heads back down under until, a few months later, he gets a call from Staples, desperate to change his life, who asks Joe for the help he offered when they met. The second half of the film thus becomes Staples' even longer journey to health, and the film follows him for almost a year, as he loses weight, gains local celebrity, and nurses his older brother, Barry (also obese), into a healthy lifestyle after he suffers a heart attack. The film gets its message across well, and never comes off as preachy. Cross seems genuine in his mission, and even has his own website dedicated to the cause. The lone negative in the film is the really bad animation that is repeatedly used, for any other critiques of the film would center on what it is obviously not, instead of what it is: a well made biography of two men and their struggles with eating and health.

I can understand people saying that this is a very inspirational story, because it definitely is. Although I myself don't need to lose weight (quite the opposite), a couple of my friends and family members do struggle with their overweight, although not as extensive as the mains in this movie. This movie explores the age old solution. Get healthy nutrition and start exercising. Hey and guess what...it works. The problem for most people is willpower to continue on their diet, something this movie clearly shows with the 4th of July BBQ sequence. And in a time where people tend to only just 'try every diet pill on the market', trying to use the age old solution is a story worth documenting. The movie starts quite good for a documentary. It uses animation to illustrate Joe's problem. The movie is executed good until Phil calls Joe. It's like a whole new movie starts. Different tone, different design. And compared to the greatly executed first part, it feels like a quick and cheap add-on. Especially when the movie ends with the scrolling text in the end. Why not illustrate the effect that Joe and Phil had on their community with yet another animation and add the additional information as a voice-over. In other words, come full circle. It feels like the first part was created for theatrical release, as a short portrait of Joe, and that after its run we now get the 'made for television' extended cut, including the longer story of Phil. As a film maker myself I can understand that sometimes the story decides the form of the end result. But the story is there and it is a wonderful one. It's the execution of telling that story that is lacking in some parts. I would still highly recommend people, who struggle with their weight, to watch this movie though. But since IMDb is about the movie as a whole, I can't give it a high vote just for having an inspirational story.

(spoiler alert) I found Fat, Sick & Nealy Dead on Netflix instant view. I am a normal American with a normal diet. No longer. I purchased a juicer and now consume more fruits and veggies than ever before in my life. Why? The documentary lays it out in a manner I had never been presented with. Joe Cross, the film maker and star, starts off by showing just how far his health had deteriorated with his normal Australian/American diet. He comes to America for 60 days to juice and tells us "not to eat your food". It's not that he's anti-American, but he is the messenger trying to help us avert a national medical emergency/disaster. About halfway through his journey he meets a trucker name Phil Staples (not Riverstone, IMDb!). The rest of the documentary we follow Phil as he "re-boots" his life with 100% fruit and veggies in juice form to go from 429 pounds to 220 pounds. We follow Phil in visits to his doctor for pre- and post- weight loss. It's quite the transformation. Most folks will find this documentary inspiring and motivating!

At first when I saw the cover of this DVD, I thought it was just another informational movie about the obesity epidemic in America. I myself have a BMI of 24, which is just barely within my normal range. So, I didn't think this film would apply to me, but was still interested. While I am generally a sympathetic person, I won't lie that I can't stand to see morbidly obese people stuffing their faces with junk food. It's gross and makes me feel that they have no respect for their bodies. But, wait... I suddenly realized that only months ago I had an addiction to prescription meds and cocaine. I din't eat much at all. People complemented me on my curvy slim figure. It is only now that I realize addiction is addiction. And the food is a drug to these people I've judged. This movie brought me to tears and made me realize my ignorance. There are a lot of skinny people who eat the same way and aren't ridiculed because of how they look. It's sad how misguided our society is. The food we eat today is like poison. This film brought into perspective why cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc, are killing us younger and younger. This film isn't just about losing weight, it's about changing your life completely and healing your mind, body, and should with the fruits of the earth that have always been here. It's nice to know that making such drastic positive changes in my health and living is something I have the power to control. I just have to CHOOSE to make the decision to change. I believe everyone should watch this documentary at least once. Very informative, very inspiring.

First of all, I am a vegetarian, I was from the moment I first saw "earthlings", one of the most sad and terrible documentaries about the way animals are treated in a day to day basis for us to be able to consume them.. from that point forward I just watched each and every documentary about healthy diets, vegetarianism, vegan-ism and the likes. I just watched this new film with no expectations whatsoever, thinking I've seen it all, what else could impress me. My knowledge about the subject is wide, I already did fasting, detox diets and all you can imagine, I weight 59kg and I am 38 and I didn't think I could learn something more about it, and I was right! I did not learned anything new, but, oh boy how wrong I was about the whole thing. I did make a huge mistake in over-thinking my position as vegetarian following logic steps when in fact, that was not the thing that lead me to where I am in the first place, instead, it was experience, seeing other people much better than me, my girlfriend feeling great, me, not so much. THIS is the core of this film, experience. The movie does away with all scientific explanations (except for a few doctors in between) and put all of it's effort on showing us real people, real experiences and some really disturbing transformations (for the better!). Suffice to say the movie struck me as beautiful, excellent, super inspiring and right to the point. It's so good that I want to watch it again and again with all the people I know so they too can see for themselves the importance of diet. They say an imagine worth a thousand words, well, this movie is all about experience, images, transformation, virtue, will and most of all, inspiration to others. Explanations, I know them, probably a lot of people don't but now I see this is not so much important anymore, this movie nailed it. Please go watch it you won't regret it, even if you're not interested in all this green stuff. 8 out of 10 for sure!

This was probably the most inspirational documentary i have seen ever, the fact the movie showed the guy losing the weight during the 60 day trip across the USA and it inspired a fat trucker to jump into the same program, I felt uplifted to watch the fat trucker actually losing a huge amount of weight, I am maybe 20 pounds overweight which is nothing but I am going to start introducing a liquid meal into my daily routine, I wish every overweight kid would watch this and feel as positive about it as i do, it should be made part of schools social sciences classes to show what can be done and so easily. It is what most folks really need to be faced with the facts about eating todays processed rubbish. I am going straight out to buy a juicer and all the greens that go with it

Must watch movie. Even though it is documentary movie, they have made it very interesting. It is simply superb. It shows importance of fruits, veggies and original juice (not processed that we can buy from any store). Fresh Juice, Veggies and Fruits are not only helpful for Fat people but it is required for all healthy people too. You can not miss this movie. It is really inspiring movie. It even shows that it helped in Migrane. I am going to try Reboot and recommend my friends and family. Food is becoming major problem all across world. This movie is one of the best movie I have ever watched. I am very thankful to a friend who provided information about this movie and Juicer. I have already bought juicer and going to try tomorrow.

For over 2 years, my dad has been drinking vegetable "smoothie" daily for breakfast with recipes recommended by Dr. Tom Wu from Taiwan. As a result he is healthier and looks younger. After watching this documentary, he was inspired and did 3 weeks purely on the smoothie (skin and all fiber included, not just the juice). Surprisingly, he now looks even younger and healthier. His psoriasis condition improves dramatically. So much that I am now trying this out for 10 days. I'm on day 5 now and my skin is glowing I barely need make-up in the morning. I also don't have the migraine which I usually have during my period. I like this documentary very much I am buying the DVD for others who want some inspirational boost to start their health journey.

I saw this movie completely by accident (or divine intervention?). Our regular Sunday night TV had been preempted by an awards show, so we decided to see what was on Netflix. I saw the title, and it described me so well that I had to see it. Joe Cross sets out across the US to promote better eating and show what it's done for him. I thought this first half of the film was informative and I expected it to end there. He got his point across about the benefits of consuming the juice of a variety of fruits and vegetables, and how the body uses those nutrients to heal itself. Then comes Phil, an overweight, out of shape truck driver who reaches out for help. Following Phil's journey was tremendously inspiring. Watching him lose weight, decrease or eliminate medications and just take control of his life has changed MY life completely. Before the credits finished rolling, I had my shoes and jacket on and was out the door on my way to buying my first juicer. This is a movie I will re-watch often.