Rajeev K Gupta reviews the movie ‘Stutz’, based on a freewheeling conversation between actor Jonah Hill and his therapist Dr Phil Stutz. The conversation is easy and effortless, despite addressing the past and present vulnerabilities in both. Rajeev lives with Parkinsons Disease.
Who doesn’t feel low, sad, or even depressed occasionally…! And more often those managing chronic or acute illnesses. Add to that people managing death in the family, job losses, break ups, separation etc. etc. and you will find that most of us go through these phases in our lives. Few acknowledge it and fewer seek help even when they know they need intervention. Even when we are breaking from inside, we do not want to look vulnerable to the world. For celebrities, it is that much more difficult as they feel a compelling professional need to maintain their perceived public image. There are exceptions, of course; like Jonah Hill of Wolf of the Wall Street fame, who acknowledges his own depression and makes a documentary on the therapy methods of his path breaking psychotherapist Phil Stutz.
Stutz, a documentary available on Netflix, is a very honest, sincere, and candid conversation between a celebrity client and his therapist interspersed with a healthy banter between the two to lighten the mood. Both share some poignant details of their personal lives and childhood dreams and traumas. Jonah tells us about how Stutz helped him when he was feeling devasted and lost after the death of his brother. In the movie, Stutz reveals that he also lost a younger brother when he (Stutz) was just 9. It is touching to see how a common loss and sadness like this immediately brings them closer and establishes a deeper level of connection between the two. It does get emotional at times but does not go overboard.
I felt a similar connect with Phil the moment I learned that he, like me, is managing YOPD (Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease) for many years. As is inevitable in such cases, the conversation does veer towards Parkinson’s occasionally, but Parkinson’s is not the central point of the discussion in the movie.
How many times you have felt that the world is not fair to you? Stutz convinces us that we should not expect fairness in our relationships or from life itself as it is a futile exercise. He exhorts us to accept and move on as “Quest for fairness puts your life on hold.” He asks us to “Take action no matter how frightened you are.”
They discuss many concepts and tools used by Stutz to treat his clients such as The Life Force, Part X, The Snapshot, The Shadow, The Grateful Flow etc. I like the way Stutz uses hand drawn sketches and analogies to explain these concepts e.g. ‘String of pearl’ analogy where he compares the string as your life force and pearls as all your activities, small or big. These are simple tools that will help anyone who is dealing with apathy, sadness, illness etc. or processing a loss. I do not want to go into the details of these concepts as you can hear it directly from the source by watching the film.
It is a two-way conversation, and it is interesting to see the role reversals i.e., the client interviewing the therapist and the therapist opening to his own vulnerabilities. This is very rare in the professional world. In the closing conversation, Jonah says that it was an eye opener for him to know that Stutz struggles with some of the same problems he treats for his clients. To this Stutz replies that “People we look up to aren’t exempt from all the problems we ourselves have.” He says we all look for the perfect experience, but we will never get there. “You won’t figure it all out. No one will.”
I am not a movie reviewer and cannot comment on the cinematographic merits of the film. It is enough for me that it is a very honest and absorbing film. It was a transformational experience as it touched me deeply. I will watch this documentary every now and then especially whenever I feel low.
