The Beautiful Truth (2008)

A troubled 15-year-old boy attempting to cope with the recent death of his mother sets out to research Dr. Max Gerson's claims of a diet that can cure cancer as his first assignment for ... See full summary »

Director:

Steve Kroschel

Writer:

Steve Kroschel

Stars:

Charlotte Gerson, Jay Kordich, Garrett Kroschel

Cast

Credited cast:
Charlotte Gerson	...	Herself
Jay Kordich	...	Himself
Garrett Kroschel	...	Himself
Joyce Riley	...	Herself
Howard Straus	...	Himself

Storyline

A troubled 15-year-old boy attempting to cope with the recent death of his mother sets out to research Dr. Max Gerson's claims of a diet that can cure cancer as his first assignment for home-schooling in this documentary from filmmaker Steve Kroschel (Avalanche, Dying to Have Known). Garrett is a boy who has always been close to nature. He lives on a reserve with a menagerie of orphaned animals, and over the years he's become especially sensitive to the nutritional needs of the diet-sensitive animals he's charged with caring for. When Garrett's mother suffers a tragic and untimely death, the boy falls into a dangerous downward spiral and nearly flunks out of school. Increasingly concerned for Garrett's well-being and determined to strengthen their bond despite the many challenges on the horizon, his father makes the decision to begin home-schooling the distressed teen. Garrett's first assignment: study a controversial book written by Dr. Max Gerson, a physician who claims to have ...

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | pharmaceutical | nutrition

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Taglines:

The World's Simplest Cure

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2008 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kroshel Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Beyond Treason (2005)

User Reviews

A Helpful Lesson in Alternative Medicine

This is a good movie to see for anyone even slightly open to alternative medicine / holistic health. It was interesting to hear the success stories of people who were saved by Gerson Therapy, which I don't doubt a bit (I know people who have survived cancer using similar means). However, I wish the film hadn't given the impression that --everyone-- gets better with Gerson, which of course isn't truth for any therapy.

It surprises me that some people are still so hostile to the fact that changes in diet can change a diagnosis like cancer. If you think about how you got cancer in the first place (just coincidence??? just genetics??? C'mon...) then it is easier to think about diet as cause, complication and/or cure. I guess it will just take time for more people to come around.

The movie was pretty well done. Very heavily biased towards the positive side of Gerson, very little airing of people dissenting against it, just a few seconds of those interviews, and unfortunately, focusing on guys like Stephen Barrett, who have been completely discredited in the medical field. I wish they would have had some good back-and-forth discussion on the pros and cons of Gerson without just throwing up a straw man like Barrett who is so easy to disparage. Unfortunately, stuff like Gerson Therapy tends to be a very emotional topic for Western medical specialists, so it must have been hard to find a person who could talk intelligently and somewhat calmly about it.

The movie tries to make this a personal journey for this young man, as he discovers what is going on with Gerson Therapy and food as medicine. I think the movie was paced nicely and it wasn't too preachy. Overall, quite good. 8 stars out of 10