Fat Head

While I think "Fat Head" is a very flawed film, I do recommend you watch it. It has many good points to make and makes you think...too bad the film is so ugly to look at and uneven that you might not bother watching the movie to its conclusion. Watch it...even if it is really ugly and could have used some work.

When the film begins, the filmmaker (Tom Naughton) brings up some possible inconsistencies behind Morgan Spurlock's film "Super Size Me". I really wish Naughton hadn't piggybacked on Spurlock's film, however, as although I agreed that Spurlock wasn't particularly fair in how he conducted his 'experiment', focusing all this energy against Spurlock seemed to deflect from THE most important message in "Fat Head"--that many of our dietary assumptions are wrong! Various experts throughout the film made convincing arguments that animal fats are NOT bad and should make up much of our diet. And, interestingly, the US government food pyramid we all followed for so long (which recommended consumption of HUGE amounts of grains) actually have made us fatter and less fit. But, focusing so much on Spurlock was done, most likely, for marketing reasons. As a result, the film seemed a bit ill-focused.

Despite these complaints, my biggest ones are because the film looks very amateurish. The graphics look incredibly cheap and ugly--really, really, really ugly. So, while Naughton is making some good points, he's doing it with graphics which would embarrass most viewers. Plus, sometimes Naughton made wonderful jokes and observations--and other times, he missed the mark and having some outsiders help him polish the film would have really helped.

The bottom line is that Tom Naughton has a lot of talent and made some wonderful observations. But, he simply needs polish and better direction. So, if he could perhaps work WITH A TEAM, the results would look so much better instead of looking more like a YouTube post than a movie. There's a lot to it....and try to look past its deficits.

Let's be honest-- at 500 pages most of us aren't going to read "Good Calories, Bad Calories." This film serves as a much easier introduction to the theories and realities about why we get fat, what causes coronary heart disease and diabetes, and what we can do to reverse those conditions. In an easy-to-understand and humorous way, the film explains why the "obvious" reasons we are fat (access to fast food, fat in the diet, etc) are often the wrong answers. If you are trying to lose weight, have heart disease or type-2 diabetes, or just want to live a healthier lifestyle, grab a friend and sit down to watch this film.

"Supersize Me" was an entertaining film about the guy who decided to eat only McDonald's for a month and see what happens. But in "Fat Head" this other guy complains the earlier film doesn't seem real, and wants to prove you can eat fast food and not only stay the same weight but even lose some. There is some good discussion about what actually makes you gain weight and what causes it. I recommend to watch it to get some new perspective on things.

The technical side of the film looks a bit rushed, like a Youtube video. But since I actually watched it from Youtube it didn't matter that much.

An interesting documentary. Check it out.

I felt compelled to write a review after seeing several poorly constructed ones here. Mine may not be a work of art but it's honest and I've been motivated to look into food, nutrition and health to a higher degree based on some recent experience.

My father died this July at 76. He didn't smoke or drink. He did have a strong penchant for juices, pastries and breads/cereal. He had become type II diabetic some years back. He was slightly overweight but from the outside you couldn't imagine he had 80/80/90% blockages in his 3 main coronary arteries. It was a surprise to me when he had a heart attack following knee replacement surgery (3/10) and by angiogram we discovered just how bad his health was. I didn't realize how diabetes and heart disease are closely linked. He eventually died from complications associated with diabetes/coronary heart disease and possibly depression. It all happened pretty suddenly, but the underlying conditions had been developing for years. If I knew what my sister (an MD) knew I would have seen the signs earlier.

"Fat Head" was recently introduced to me and I was struck by the incisive quality of Naughton's investigation. "Super Size Me" seemed very damning of fast food and those that were "stupid and lazy enough" to eat it. But Spurlock's representative's not releasing his food logs is very suspicious. That's where Fat Head comes in. Sure, it was cheesy in places but that's the point. Don't let the graphics and quips fool you - this really is a thoughtful, important movie that at the very least would invite viewers to dig deeper into the science of nutrition. The big take-away for me was to read more and I picked up one of the books mentioned in the movie "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. The history of how nutritional information has been lost/suppressed/perverted and ignored is striking. Yes, follow the money. Naughton doesn't strike me as a gold digger, nor a corporate patsy. Before making up your mind on any reviews (including mine), I encourage you to watch this and then dig deeper. I've been listening to my body for years when it told me a vegan/vegetarian diet just doesn't feel right. Now, via Fat Head and lots of additional research (GCBC), I'm starting to understand why. Our ancestors really did know what was going on. We'd be wise to consider that 'modern' medicine is only as good as the integrity to do real science when it comes to human health and not ignore evidence that doesn't suit our preconceived notions (as Ancel Keys famously did in being father of the incorrect Lipid Hypothesis).

This is one of the most IMPORTANT movies I've ever seen. That's why I'm giving it 9 stars.

Of course not - that would be Fight Club. But in spite of its low budget and cornball humor, "Fat Head" is a movie that could make a difference. Plus, it's funny. My teenage daughter and I were laughing all the way through.

I get the impression that making Fat Head as a reply to the "Super Size Me" crowd was decided upon as a way to set the stage for the actual information Naughton is trying to impart. That being said, I have to disagree with the reviewers who say that S.S.M. isn't science, and Fat Head isn't a rebuttal; In S.S.M., Spurlock comes up with his hypothesis (eating nothing but fast food is bad for you), devises a test, follows specific test procedures, and publishes his results and findings. Naughton looked at his test procedures, results, and findings, and found specific faults and inconsistencies, which Fat Head addresses. Sounds like what they taught me in high school science class!

More importantly, Fat Head brings out some REALLY important information for the people who are trying to be healthy and failing. I've been trying to get people to read Gary Taube's "Good Calories, Bad Calories" (frequently referenced in Fat Head), which is of critical importance to our nation's health, but is...a bit dry. The fact that a lot of people HAVE read it is a tribute to its impact. Naughton takes that information and puts it in a nice, tasty, biodegradable paper wrapper and serves it up in a clown suit. Just the way we like it.

I can't say that I like that our society needs information packaged this way, but "edutainment" is the most effective way to disseminate information. Fat Head is well-researched, well-documented, funny, and imparts a critical message. Edutainment at its best.