Stutz

There is something beautiful about this film. The film revolves primarily around Jonah Hill’s relationship with Phil Stutz, his therapist. The purpose of this film was to share Stutz’s mental health tools and concepts, including the Maze, Part X, the Shadow, and String of Pearls. Although it doesn’t provide every solution for every circumstance, it certainly does contain many of them and they can all be helpful in putting things into perspective.

An intriguing aspect of this film is the vulnerability and truthfulness of the relationship between Jonah and Phill. There is a strong sense of openness, love, and respect between these two individuals.

It is through Phil’s story that we learn about his childhood, the death of his little brother, and Parkinson’s disease. The experience makes you realize that everyone has been through something, and perfection is not possible, but there are many tools available to make your life better and more fulfilling.

In addition, I enjoyed the visual aspects of the film. It’s a black-and-white film that feels intimate because the camera is always pointing directly at the speaker’s eyes.

As the film progressed, I found myself in tears, simply because I wasn’t expecting anything more than just two men talking to one another. However, their candid humour also made me laugh.

Definitely a documentary I will recommend to friends and probably watch many times myself. Also, there’s a book written by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels titled The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower - and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion - check it out.