Editorial Product Review:Amazon.com:Until 2003, Kris Carr's life resembled that of many other New York actresses. The attractive blonde acted in commercials, appeared in theatrical revues, and guested on programs like
Law & Order. After she was diagnosed with cancer of the vascular system, Carr decided to document the experience (she has also written a book,
Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor). This isn't how most people would react, especially if told that conventional treatments aren't likely to help. With the support of her friends and family, Carr becomes 'a full-time healing junkie.' For this TLC documentary, she also interviews fellow cancer survivors, like redheaded sisters Erin Zammett Ruddy and Melissa Gonzalez, African-American playwright Oni Faidah Lampley, and pink wigged tour manager Jackie Farry. While Carr acquires a New Age attitude (she digs the word 'groovy'), Farry advances a punk-rock approach (her motto is 'f--- cancer'). Carr may exhibit greater acceptance of her condition, but Farry's anger seems like the more logical response. Further, Carr's optimism is admirable, but possibly unrealistic for those without her support system or insurance benefits (Plus, she never looks sick and falls in love with her camera man during filming). Nonetheless, her sometimes risqué sense of humor makes for entertaining company during this five-year journey. In
Crazy Sexy Cancer, Carr doesn’t presume to offer any cures for untreatable conditions, but provides a model for living well through low-impact exercise and proper eating habits. The plentiful extras include a yoga routine, guided meditation, detox tips, deleted scenes, and extended interviews.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Buyer Reviews
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Her Metier Is Helping Others Overcome Fear
She never really does reveal what makes cancer sexy, but surely part of it is her developing romance with the man behind the camera, Brian Fassett. Brian makes himself indispensable to Kris, and is at her side no matter what New Age diet she tries next. Even when she's down, he stays up. In fact Brian hardly shows any emotions in the video, he's just a steady sort of man for a bubbly and optimistic woman.
Her dilemma is a tragic one: she has an inoperable and untreatable cancer that paradoxically enough doesn't need treatment because its growth is undetectably slow. What's the sense is subjecting oneself to nauseating chemo when, in fact, you're doing fine without it? And yet she sometimes suffers from existential panic, for even though she's not in pain or even "sick," she's a walking time bomb and one of these days that cancer might spread.
She's a lot like Chloe Sevigny and no wonder she wasn't getting many parts as an actress, she was probably losing all the good ones to Chloe. My wife says I'm crazy and that Kris Carr is charismatic. However, she's not charismatic enough to make me eat 80 percent raw foods and start juicing, and she becomes sort of johnny one note about how delicious juices are and how much she's in love. Of course she's delighted to be alive, and she surrounds herself with other young women stricken with cancer and they are her posse (didn't see any of them at her wedding though, maybe they're just illness friends and not wedding guest type friends). Sad to see the brilliant black playwright struggling with getting one final play done! We learned that the woman, Oni Faida Lampley, a brilliant actress and so great in the Kevin Costner movie DRAGONFLY, died last month and this movie is a great tribute to her spirit, though her death of course is not covered in this tape. Maybe there will be a sequel to talk about those young women for whom the diets and juicing do not help.
On an amusing note, Kris Carr has many Julia Roberts-style montages of herself doing funny walks across the screen, sometimes breaking into the "funky chicken," in an assortment of size 4 play clothes and kooky hats. I counted and there are 11 such montages in the film, more than any other movie I ever remember seeing. A record?
Customer Rating: 
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Crazy Sexy Cancer
Here is a wonderful exploration of young folks with cancer. Her worldwide search for cures and potent diets are inspiring. I work for hospice and plan to reccommend this video and companion book to my patients. The extras on the video include yoga for healing and vegetarian diet help. I think that this is a very important video for most people as nowdays we all now people struggling with this disease. Also for those of us who want to avoid cancer, there are plenty of tips for us.
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Cancer one day at a time
Chosen for our annual Women's Film Festival 2008 this was an uplifting view of one woman's fight against her cancer. It also interviews other young women who are dealing with the disease. It is brave and sad, and hopeful.
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Crazy, sexy woman on a mission
In this fun little documentary, actress/director Kris Carr is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that infects her lungs and liver. The cancer is so rare (not to mention hard to pronounce) that every treatment offered to her is experimental. Fortunately, the cancer does not metastasize quickly. Seizing the opportunity, she becomes her own "health guru" and starts to go on a journey of alternative medicine. The reason I was attracted to this is because it features briefly one of the people who I've been studying, a microbiologist by the name of Dr. Robert Young. His theories on "the new biology" are explained in the books that he writes. I also, as a side note, recommend that, if you are interested, to read books like "The pH Miracle." Or look up Dr. Alex Guerrero or Dr. Christopher Vasey. But I'm getting off the subject. I recommend this, but because of the language and content involved, this is NOT a family-friendly movie. Also, something that I found a bit irritating was that it came in a eco-friendly box. Now, I'm all about recycling and closing down the landfills and not polluting and all, but it was something I wasn't really expecting and it kind of made it hard to get the DVD out of the case without...breaking it. I don't know, maybe others have had better luck than I. I was struggling for 2 minutes trying to get the thing out without snapping it in two. Well, that's it. Until next time, Will out. God bless.
