Hunger Point

Wow if I lived in a family like this and had a mother like Marsha Hunter (Hershey) i think I'd go on a rampage and kill her. "oh no!! We can't be overweight! Hell will freeze over before my daughters are overweight!! You want the boys to like you? I mean those poor girls. They had to have grown tired of this woman.....What a bizarre woman!! And to top it all off, that girl Shelley is just as bad! She always seems to be whining about something new or how "ashamed" she is. She's a freak. She has no sort of toughness within her bones. The only normal person in this family is Frannie. Poor girl. She has such a bizarre family. The acting is pretty good though. Well folks, heres your typical lifetime movie. Big bore. Depressing and terrible storyline. The anorexia/bullemic story gets a little old. 0 stars out of 10.

When I saw the previews for this movie I was intrigued. I was expecting a movie about a young woman who was battling anorexia that delved into how it all began and followed her along her struggle. However the "background information" that would set up the childhood of this suffering character is quickly plowed through and immediately she is checking into a hospital.

There are a few heart breaking scenes that, despite some cheesy and ill-delivered lines, are haunting. When Frannie and Mother first visit Shelly, her utter anger is portrayed extremely well. This is someone who controls her eating because she feels her life is in a tailspin and everything else is out of her control. The other scenes is the two sisters in the restaurant and Shelly asks Frannie to order the sandwich and put on "more dressing" and is practically salivating.

Then 'Hunger Point' meets a fork in the road of the plot and goes in another direction. Shelly becomes an underlying theme or can even be considered a catalyst, for the rest of the film.

If you watch this movie expecting it to be centered around Shelly, it ends up being about Frannie. But if it reruns, I'll tune in. You must at least once!

The comment about the movie being bizarre was probably made out of ignorance and lack of experience. This movie was very real about a very real problem. It portrayed an illness in need of treatment. Anorexia and bulimia are not just decisions and will power but life threatening illnesses. They affect the whole family and must be taken seriously. They also must be treated by professionals.. it is not an issue that can be treated at home as the movie portrays well. It is not a fun movie or lighthearted so someone who wants to be cheered up or see a light hearted romance would not enjoy it. If someone wants to see something that brings out the problem and gives information it would be good to watch. It may help someone on the verge of an eating disorder but won't touch those who are deeply into it. They need far more than a movie to get help.

This movie was based on Jillian Medoff's 1997 520-page novel by the same name. The book told a beautiful, realistic story. Making it into a movie, especially a TV movie (not that they would ever release a film about eating disorders in theaters), was not a good idea. So much of the story was cut out. If I had only seen the movie and not read the book, I would have hated it. But it some ways it was nice seeing a favorite book of mine brought to life. I would have to say that was the only reason I liked this movie at all. Well, the acting was pretty good, I'll give you that. One thing I didn't like was the writers' attempt to address an issue relating to eating disorders that was not an issue at the time the book was written, and therefore was obviously not part of the book. That was the issue of pro-anorexia websites, the whole "anorexic and proud" mentality. Whether or not this is an important issue is another matter, but it was not part of the book and therefore should not have been included in the movie. The cut so much of the story out, just to add in something that wasn't originally there. I'd say this is worth checking out if you've read and liked the book, otherwise, skip it.

I can't believe this film was made in 2003, and the world of eating disorders is still trudging along. So much of what this movie showed is still accurate, speaking as someone who understands this illness a bit too well.

This movie is strongest in its depiction of relationships and misconceptions within the family regarding blame, causation, and genetic factors. They don't really touch on this, but as much as environmental factors are at play, so are the genetic ones. Mom is absolutely stricken with a pervasive eating disorder, except she is functional; Shelley moves from functional to mental incapacitation (see: scene of hyperventilation in ED unit bed). While they both have the same problem, essentially, the mom has been able to repress the worst of it, unlike Shelley.

Franny is the older sister and has demonstrated sensibility from an early age, but even she is not immune to the pitfalls of the disorder. Nothing explains her own need to engage in behaviors, other than her genetic predisposition, although it's true her environment played a part.

What I loved: this movie does a great job of portraying the impact to the family dynamic, as well as how life can change drastically. Shelley was on her way to huge things, but the ED completely derailed her plans, to the ultimate point of no coming back.

What I disliked: The movie portrays a pretty weak therapist/MD team. This probably is realistic to a large degree, because so many of my own comrades with an ED have had massive complaints about their disconnection with their medical/therapy team. However, it would have been awesome to see how someone in that role could make a positive impact, and how they truly do great work. No one except the patient can truly make the choice to embrace recovery, but there are amazing, patient and vigilantly aware therapists who have studied the trends and understand the pitfalls of early release, for example. (Shelly was not ready - by a million miles - to be released from treatment.)

Extra points of authenticity for nailing how the ED unit of patients can be. Supportive, strong, childish, embittered, numb....those are all the things that ring common and true in an ED unit of young women.

Solid movie worth a watch, even now.