FORKS OVER KNIVES – The Review

Every few months ( usually around the rating sweeps periods ) your local TV new channel will do a feature story about how unhealthy we Americans are and will include shots of out of shape men and women on the street with their heads cropped out. Some of the comedy news show refer to them as the marching torsos. Well arriving in theatres just in time for the big Memorial Day weekend cook-offs is the new documentary FORKS OVER KNIVES, which does include those marchers in it’s promotion of a complete vegetarian diet. It’s an earnest examination, but can it convince the BBQ crowd to bypass the butcher shop?

This film is the work of Lee Fulkerson, a man who decides to get healthy after reading the alarming numbers on some recent blood work. He consults two dieticians who recommend a vegan diet. Fulkerson does further research by contacting two physicians in their seventies who have been studying and promoting all vegetable diets for decades. Both are interviewed while walking through their old family farms ( one primarily raised cows ). One of the doctors made a study of the dietary habits in Asia in his cancer research. Some other people who made dietary changes are profiled-a man in his forties who was on many medications, a young mother facing high blood pressure problems, a geriatric marathon runner diagnosed with cancer, and a professional champion ultimate fighter. Fulkerson spends a bit of screen time with representatives from the dairy industry and the U.S. government while intercutting people on the street answering health questions. Finally, after a few months of the new diet, he compares the numbers on a new blood test to the previous one.

The film was made with a sense of purpose and a great deal of passion, but it’s message is hindered by the use of many documentary cliches. In addition to the torso shots, we get quaint old footage from educational films about the food pyramids(those hairstyles!). There’s even some film from the 20’s about breast feeding! Graphic animation is used to illustrate some of the points with uninspired scenes of growing comparison bars. Many of the recent dietary villains are trotted out- dairy, high fructose corn syrup, factory farms, white flour, and fast food chains. The reuse of footage of someone slicing through the fattiest side of beef they could find is used to repulse while the non-salad vegetarian dishes all seem to resemble rice or spinach casseroles. The dismissive interviews with meat representatives are shot in extreme, harsh close-up. The two main physicians are seen jogging and clearing brush to emphasize the pep and vigor they receive from their diet choices. The film finishes with all the dieticians and their patients seating down to a massive round table to enjoy a huge vegetable feast. This may be an example of “preaching to the choir”. I’m not sure any hard core carnivores will want to take this in. As I said earlier, the film maker is sincere and passionate, but he doesn’t help his case by starting the film with a huge disclaimer about consulting your doctor. This is well made, but is no where near the impact ( or entertainment ) of SUPER SIZE ME.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars