***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Carmine Famiglietti stars as Neil Perota, a 315-pound man who suffers a heart attack and is advised by his doctors that he needs to lose weight if he wants to continue living. He makes a promise to his family that he will eat well and lose weight. His mother, superbly played by Susan Varon, cooks him healthy meals and is very attentive. Probably a bit too much for Neil. He cracks and sneaks out of the house with the pretext of going for a walk and exercising and yet walks his way right into the nearest pizza place where he proceeds to eat huge amounts of food.
Neil even enlists the assistance of his best friend, Sacco Valenzia (Michael Aranov), by having him sneak in twinkies and chocolate bars and junk food into his bedroom under the watchful eye of his father (Fil Formicola). And no matter how often his sister (Sharon Angela) weighs him, he doesn't seem to ever lose weight.
After his sister's wedding ceremony, his brother-in-law (Lou Martini, Jr.) feels disgusted with Neil and has the courage to say what no one else in the family wants to accept: Neil is not keeping his promise and losing the weight. It is wreaking havoc in the family and Neil finally comes to realize that he must do something to save himself and restore his relationship with his family.
Here comes the turning point of the film, the moment when Neil abandons his family, his house, his comforts, and more importantly, his needs. He drives up north to the woods, buys a couple of dilapidated trailers in the middle of nowhere and begins his quest. But not without the momentary assistance of his dear friend Sacco who also has an addiction of his own, drugs.
Sacco agrees to take on Neil's quest and clean himself of the toxic drugs he craves. But after going through the pains of withdrawal, both Neil and Sacco realize that, although their quest may be similar, it is one with two distinctive paths, one that they need to walk alone. Sacco leaves and Neil now has to learn how to live by himself, take care of himself, cook for himself and try not to go mad with boredom up in the woods where he can't even learn how to fish successfully.
In a very funny skit, he tries to find the courage to ride a bike, something that he probably hasn't done in a very long time, quite possibly never. But no matter. Because Neil finally overcomes his fear and bikes his way back and forth the local market which is miles away. Sometimes even in the snow.
Many months pass by and it is evident that Neil is on his way to fighting his gastronomical demons. By now he has lost a lot of weight and makes his way back home to his family, whom he has been excommunicated from since he left them. He arrives a brand new person but not to a happy family. His mother, at the sight of him, gasps and promptly slaps him and yells at him, accusing him of being a bad son for worrying his mother and not writing even one single letter to her. She shows him the numerous letters she has written him over the months, with no address to mail them to. Neil responds simply by hugging his mom.
Although Neil is back home, don't believe for a second that everything is honky-dory. It is difficult to come back to your old life when you have changed so much. And by the same token, it is very easy to slip back into your old habits. Neil does slip but thankfully it doesn't have any lasting effect. In the end, Neil is comfortable in his skin enough to go lay out on the beach, sunbathing even with or without the excess fat.
Lbs. is a little movie with a big, huge heart and a great message - Go seek what you must for your happiness and accept yourself no matter what happens.
In one of the most shocking scenes in the movie, we finally see what Sacco has become and it is very sad and painful to watch. His path had become very different from Neil's. Michael Aranov did an amazing job of portraying Sacco as a flawed human being, with his funny lines and his need to be a good friend to Neil and yet failing miserably to both Neil and himself.
The rest of the cast was incredible, their chemistry and easiness with each other was clearly evident on the screen as well as out of it. They worked very well together, like a beautiful symphony orchestra, all complementing each other and making glorious music together.
Carmine Famiglietti co-wrote this film with the help of his friend, Matthew Bonifacio and based it on his own experience and addiction with food. His realization that he needed to save himself moves him to sit down and start writing the script for this film. He lost about 170 pounds for this movie, being the heaviest at the beginning of the movie. In order to get funding for this movie, he had to prove he could lose the weight. Once he was able to prove that he could definitely lose the weight required to play the lead part, he then had to gain and lose weight accordingly depending on what was needed for the movie. It is also important to point out that while this is Famiglietti's first venture in acting, writing and producing a film, it is Bonifacio's directorial debut. He could not have picked a better project to launch his career.
At Sundance, Carmine admitted that he still struggled every day with his addiction, that he hadn't overcome it. He even said he was 30 pounds over his desired weight. Nevertheless, he still looked very good.
Neil even enlists the assistance of his best friend, Sacco Valenzia (Michael Aranov), by having him sneak in twinkies and chocolate bars and junk food into his bedroom under the watchful eye of his father (Fil Formicola). And no matter how often his sister (Sharon Angela) weighs him, he doesn't seem to ever lose weight.
After his sister's wedding ceremony, his brother-in-law (Lou Martini, Jr.) feels disgusted with Neil and has the courage to say what no one else in the family wants to accept: Neil is not keeping his promise and losing the weight. It is wreaking havoc in the family and Neil finally comes to realize that he must do something to save himself and restore his relationship with his family.
Here comes the turning point of the film, the moment when Neil abandons his family, his house, his comforts, and more importantly, his needs. He drives up north to the woods, buys a couple of dilapidated trailers in the middle of nowhere and begins his quest. But not without the momentary assistance of his dear friend Sacco who also has an addiction of his own, drugs.
Sacco agrees to take on Neil's quest and clean himself of the toxic drugs he craves. But after going through the pains of withdrawal, both Neil and Sacco realize that, although their quest may be similar, it is one with two distinctive paths, one that they need to walk alone. Sacco leaves and Neil now has to learn how to live by himself, take care of himself, cook for himself and try not to go mad with boredom up in the woods where he can't even learn how to fish successfully.
In a very funny skit, he tries to find the courage to ride a bike, something that he probably hasn't done in a very long time, quite possibly never. But no matter. Because Neil finally overcomes his fear and bikes his way back and forth the local market which is miles away. Sometimes even in the snow.
Many months pass by and it is evident that Neil is on his way to fighting his gastronomical demons. By now he has lost a lot of weight and makes his way back home to his family, whom he has been excommunicated from since he left them. He arrives a brand new person but not to a happy family. His mother, at the sight of him, gasps and promptly slaps him and yells at him, accusing him of being a bad son for worrying his mother and not writing even one single letter to her. She shows him the numerous letters she has written him over the months, with no address to mail them to. Neil responds simply by hugging his mom.
Although Neil is back home, don't believe for a second that everything is honky-dory. It is difficult to come back to your old life when you have changed so much. And by the same token, it is very easy to slip back into your old habits. Neil does slip but thankfully it doesn't have any lasting effect. In the end, Neil is comfortable in his skin enough to go lay out on the beach, sunbathing even with or without the excess fat.
Lbs. is a little movie with a big, huge heart and a great message - Go seek what you must for your happiness and accept yourself no matter what happens.
In one of the most shocking scenes in the movie, we finally see what Sacco has become and it is very sad and painful to watch. His path had become very different from Neil's. Michael Aranov did an amazing job of portraying Sacco as a flawed human being, with his funny lines and his need to be a good friend to Neil and yet failing miserably to both Neil and himself.
The rest of the cast was incredible, their chemistry and easiness with each other was clearly evident on the screen as well as out of it. They worked very well together, like a beautiful symphony orchestra, all complementing each other and making glorious music together.
Carmine Famiglietti co-wrote this film with the help of his friend, Matthew Bonifacio and based it on his own experience and addiction with food. His realization that he needed to save himself moves him to sit down and start writing the script for this film. He lost about 170 pounds for this movie, being the heaviest at the beginning of the movie. In order to get funding for this movie, he had to prove he could lose the weight. Once he was able to prove that he could definitely lose the weight required to play the lead part, he then had to gain and lose weight accordingly depending on what was needed for the movie. It is also important to point out that while this is Famiglietti's first venture in acting, writing and producing a film, it is Bonifacio's directorial debut. He could not have picked a better project to launch his career.
At Sundance, Carmine admitted that he still struggled every day with his addiction, that he hadn't overcome it. He even said he was 30 pounds over his desired weight. Nevertheless, he still looked very good.