I enjoy documentaries for what they are intended to do. A good documentary will detail a specific story line and usually avoid providing any particular biased point of view. Kudos to Mark Wexler, writer, producer, director and the main star of "How To Live Forever". Not only did he shy away from providing a specific point of view but he also coined the films sub title as "Results May Vary". This is very true based on the various real life experiences of the people that Mark interviews from around the world and how they explain their longevity which varies by many different life styles and countries.
Some do not eat red meat, some drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes daily, and others just tend to live a happy life and not worry about their health at all. Other than Jack LaLanne's power juicer promotion which good old Jack promoted for half a century, and Susanne Somers extensive use of a various array of hormonal stimulants and vitamins, I did not feel Mark was plugging any particular line of products which would have driven me nuts, so thanks Mark for keeping your documentary real.
Phyllis Diller was entertaining, as were some of the people being interviewed such as Britain's Buster Martin who was a 104-year-old beer drinking and chain-smoking marathon runner. Buster cleaned vans for a living which he did right up to his last day. On April 12, 2011, Buster finished work, went to the pub for his regular pint of beer and then went home and died at the young age of 104.
I thought maybe the film would dig in to some of the centenarians family background and gene pool but it did not. To digress for just a minute, there was a PBS documentary titled the Italian Americans, based on an Italian neighborhood pocket in Roseto Pennsylvania that I thought Mark may have discussed that details the Roseto effect. In 1912 Roseto became the first 100% Italian borough in the USA. A scientific study was done in the 1960's by Dr. Stewart Wolf that identified the entire towns people of Roseto had a substantially longer life span, suffered no heart attacks, was not attributed to diet, and died simply from old age. The study concluded that it was the strong family support circle of the entire Italian neighborhood that provided the people who lived in Roseto Pennsylvania with a serene, stable, calming and loving life of their family and friends from birth through their eventual death from old age.
The message I took away from this documentary was to eat and drink in moderation, maintain a positive attitude, don't get too worked up about what MAY happen, and make sure you take time to smell the coffee, enjoy friends, exercise regularly and most especially laugh.
I think the next film I will watch will be the John Candy/Steve Martin film Planes, Trains and Automobiles which is one of my all time favorite comedy films that will be sure to make me laugh regardless of how many times I watch it.
I give How To Live Forever a strong 7 out of 10 rating. Well done Mark Wexler!
