essensual911

(2012-04-23 09:44:23)

Very inspirational

For over 2 years, my dad has been drinking vegetable "smoothie" dailyfor breakfast with recipes recommended by Dr. Tom Wu from Taiwan. As aresult he is healthier and looks younger. After watching thisdocumentary, he was inspired and did 3 weeks purely on the smoothie(skin and all fiber included, not just the juice). Surprisingly, he nowlooks even younger and healthier. His psoriasis condition improvesdramatically. So much that I am now trying this out for 10 days. I'm onday 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. Ilike this documentary very much I am buying the DVD for others who wantsome inspirational boost to start their health journey.

Eric M. Van

(2012-04-22 18:19:41)

Inspirational, Educational ... Above All, Entertaining

The average American devotes just 5% of their diet to fruits andvegetables. A documentary which attempts to convince us that that lowpercentage is all but killing us -- that sounds like it might besomewhat of a slog. Framed as the story of a man who, by temporarilypushing that 5% all the way to 100%, not only lost a ton of weight, butapparently cured himself of autoimmune disorder -- well, that soundsinspirational and hence eminently watchable. (In fact, it's thrillinglyinspirational, with a twist I won't reveal even if the summary abovedoes.) But FAST, SICK AND NEARLY DEAD takes it a step further. Aftershooting 500 hours of footage, director and subject Joe Cross enlistedKurt Engfehr as co-writer and Chris Seward as co-editor -- both haveworked with Michael Moore. The result is a documentary that manages tokeep the personal and intimate tone of a self-motivated and financedproject while being unfailingly entertaining, thanks tostate-of-the-art storytelling.Cross has stated that his goal with this film is to ultimately increasethat 5% for fruits and vegetables to 10%. Of course, the odds areagainst anything becoming a cultural phenomenon, against anything beingthat influential ... but this film is good enough that it has a realshot. You can think of SUPER-SIZE ME as the statement of the problem;if there's any justice this film will be just as successful as aproposal of one possible solution. This earns 9/10 simply as film --and gains a final star because the story it tells is so important.Note: this review includes some information provided by Joe Crossduring the Q&A following an advance screening ... from which I've justreturned!Postscript, June: While I haven't done the "reboot" Joe advocates inthis film, I've been inspired to go from eating about 3 servings offruits and vegetables a day to about 10, and I've lost 9 pounds withouttrying (since the healthy food is replacing sweet and salty snacks).And I had known this was the correct thing to do for years: I was justnever motivated to do it. This film *will* change your life.

parrott_nicholas

(2012-04-19 19:42:50)

Inspiration

The movie pace is strange, seems like 2 movies in one,mixed in withsome Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock cartoon) type animation. It is veryeducational and uplifting. Honest and not condescending at all butlight hearted and humorous despite the serious subject matter. Theinterviews with Americans is straight to the point and gets them "youand me" to ask some important questions of ourselves and how we valueour life and health. It almost seems like an advertisement for Juicer'sbut never names a brand specifically that I caught. I went to Macy'stoday and they had 2 left. The sales clerk mentioned that they wereflying off the shelf due to a movie about them. I was tickled to tellher about the movie, and that I was one of "those people". We did notbuy from Macy's but just wanted to get hands on. I highly recommend youcheck it out, and hope you enjoy. P.S. I watched it free on Hulu, andgot the Juicer for cheaper directly from the manufacturer (anAustralian brand). Cheers.

jvande7471-249-355231

(2012-04-19 08:01:09)

Life Changing!

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

David O'Brien

(2012-04-14 16:50:17)

A celebration of life and the steps needed to live life to the full

What started out as an easy going documentary about a juice diet, endsup being something altogether more profound and life affirming. We meetJoe Cross, a very likable Aussie who travels to the States, the home ofjunk food, to start a juice only diet, with a juicer hooked up to hiscar battery and a vast array of fruit and veg. He decides to hangaround outside some of the fast food places he used to frequent. Healso interviews people he meets about their diets or lack of them andtheir anticipated life expectancies. Most of the results are shocking.Most of the overweight people don't think they have the willpower tochange, and in some cases are accepting that they will die in their50s. Joe sticks with his diet for 60 days, and he manages to lose a lotof weight. The film becomes more profound when he meets Phil Staples, atruck driver with even bigger weight issues than Joe. He reaches outand asks Joe for help. The results are staggering. Joe's weight loss isexcellent, but Phil's eventual weight loss is even more spectacular.Phil becomes an advocate for the juice diet and turns his life around360. Overall this film is life affirming and touching. It espouses thebenefits of a simpler diet, and is a celebration of life rather than asermon. It's worth watching. Not sure I would be brave enough to trythat diet though. Maybe when I hit 400 pounds !

i_purpose_walk

(2012-04-13 17:53:25)

A great motivator

(spoiler alert)I found Fat, Sick & Nealy Dead on Netflix instant view. I am a normalAmerican with a normal diet. No longer. I purchased a juicer and nowconsume more fruits and veggies than ever before in my life. Why? Thedocumentary 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 farhis health had deteriorated with his normal Australian/American diet.He comes to America for 60 days to juice and tells us "not to eat yourfood". It's not that he's anti-American, but he is the messenger tryingto help us avert a national medical emergency/disaster. About halfwaythrough his journey he meets a trucker name Phil Staples (notRiverstone, IMDb!). The rest of the documentary we follow Phil as he"re-boots" his life with 100% fruit and veggies in juice form to gofrom 429 pounds to 220 pounds. We follow Phil in visits to his doctorfor pre- and post- weight loss. It's quite the transformation. Mostfolks will find this documentary inspiring and motivating!