My grandma loves this movie and made me watch it. The movie is poorly put together, and the main guys are annoying. It's not very informative and uninteresting. I will say though that it is indeed inspirational and helped my grandma lose weight.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
2010
Action / Documentary
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
2010
Action / Documentary
7.5Keywords: dietfastingvegetable juiceaustralian man
Plot summary
Forty-one year old Australian Joe Cross has had a rare autoimmune disease for nine years from an adult life filled with bad eating, which has also made him obese. To treat his disease, he is on prednisone, a strong prescription medication with negative side effects. He decided to make a radical change to his eating life, first by going on a sixty day fresh juice fast, documenting this journey on film, and doing it in the United States, a country renowned for its unhealthy population due to bad eating; and second by then changing to a predominantly micro-nutrient based diet, which is largely comprised of plant products. He spends the first thirty days in New York under the care of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a nutrition specialist, and the remaining thirty days on the road traveling to the west coast. Along the way, he speaks to many people about what he's doing, some who live and eat healthily, some who are bad eaters but who have not yet developed health issues, and many who are both bad eaters and have health issues, most in that latter group who refuse to change their lifestyle, stating that they would rather die young and happy than change to healthier eating. This film also follows two people who Joe meets. One is Siong Norte who agrees to try a ten day juice fast to see if it helps with her primary health issue of migraine headaches. Two is the more severe case of Phil Staples, an Iowa based trucker who has the exact same autoimmune disease as Joe, but who is carrying approximately one hundred more pounds than Joe at the start of his process. Following his own sixty day journey, Joe dedicates his time to at least the start of Phil Staples's journey.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 892.87 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
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Eh
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Great documentary. Go Phil!
Great documentary in the style of "Super Size Me." I could have done with less of the cheesy animation but other than that, well done. It definitely made me want to go out and buy a juicer and take a closer look at what I'm eating even though I don't need to lose any weight.
Australian Joe Cross is likable enough as we follow him on his 60 day cross America road trip and juice fast. He's trying to get off the meds, lose weight and get healthy again. Healing himself from the inside out. Along the way he meets and talks to random people.
Where this really gets interesting is in the second half when we meet Phil, an obese truck driver who hits his bottom (or top weight) and phones Joe for help. We then follow him through his first weeks of a new lifestyle of exercise and juicing and you can't help but cheer him along. The mindset in America regarding food is kinda horrifying.
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one man's journey led to other people's journeys
Many years ago, I wrote an article about Hippocrates Institute in Florida, so I had to go there. Hippocrates concentrates on a whole food diet, wheat grass juice, with a day of fasting drinking only juice (not just wheat grass as I recall).
I hated it. I lost my appetite totally and the wheat grass juice was beyond awful.
I came back after a week, ten pounds thinner, and I hadn't been overweight to begin with. I also saw the results it had for the other people there, mostly people who had been given a terminally ill diagnosis for cancer. By using whole, unprocessed, raw foods, Hippocrates has cured people all over the world.
I had no idea that "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" extolled the virtues of juicing and of whole food. For some reason I thought it was about eating junk food, like Supersize Me or whatever it was.
Instead, it was about a man named Joe Cross who "rebooted" and lost a tremendous amount of weight by doing a 60-day juice fast and then moving on to a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and continuing with his exercise program. He also was able to get off of all of his medications - he has a chronic immune disorder.
Walking around New York City, Joe interviews a lot of people, and some of their answers are not only funny but expressed how many people feel. "I want to die happy," someone said, which reminded me of a big Hollywood producer interviewed about Chasen's Restaurant: "We led shorter lives, but fuller lives," he said.
Joe also is able to help people, a woman with migraines who did a short juice fast and fits it into her lifestyle now, with no more migraines.
Then we meet Phil, a 429-pound truck driver, who meets Joe and later begs him for help. His transformation was unbelievable, down to something like 227 pounds, off all of his meds, blood work excellent, and on an exercise program. He also opened a community juice bar and is now a nutritional trainer.
I should point out that Phil's story is a complicated one and I believe is continued in FS&ND-2, which I haven't seen. I have read about Phil's journey since the end of the first film, though.
One can't help but be moved and inspired by this film. A 60-day juice fast would be tough, but the health aspect of eating better is something to think about. Having seen the difference in women's appearances after just 14-days following Dr. Perricone's health plan - it's obvious that a healthy lifestyle, with the occasional treat, is critical.