From Fat Lolli to 6 Pack Lolli: The Ultimate Transformation Story

Most other reviewers have already noted the shallow nature of this documentary - how Anthony has the privilege of being able to hire expert trainers and nutritionists to come live with him, of buying the most expensive foods, of nearly unlimited time to neglect his loved ones in pursuit of vanity. They've noted how at no point in the movie does the viewer learn anything about the specific variables involved in transforming from obese to ripped in 9 months - probably because any medical, nutrition, or fitness professional knowledgeable about such a transformation would ethically have to speak to how dangerous and unsustainable it is to do this. Anthony doesn't attempt to hide the fact that this is a shameless self-promotion vehicle, or rather he does so under the guise of "inspiration"; which he may well actually believe this documentary to be. Given that much of the footage was no more than six months old when it aired, it would be far more telling to check in in five years because the science of dramatic weight loss is in, and in nearly all cases people's bodies literally fight to bounce back to their previous state of obesity once it has been established. It seems to be a matter of biological reality. So, the real litmus test is what happens from now on with Anthony.

Other notable takeaways include the values on display within the family and marriage. Early, we hear his wife explain how she has a "list" of qualifications for prospective boyfriends or husbands, and how Anthony met many of the items on her list in spades - presumably his having money offset the fact that he was obese if we read between the lines here. Take the fact that his inspiration came when his toddler reached for some french fries and this wife said "don't eat those, you're going to get fat!" before exposing her to a fear inducing video about how obesity leads to death. I'm sure this kid will have a healthy body image growing up...not. Questionable parenting decisions aside, Anthony clearly lived in a situation where his weight was tolerated but not accepted, further evidenced by her comments about how he neglected her and the kids to follow his insane weight loss schedule and dangerous flouting of doctor's orders to rest while healing from his blubberectomy, saying "well he was never there, but now I have THIS" pointing to his now chiseled physique and infinite buttcrack. Alas, people like this deserve one another, but spare the children, please!

This is a tedious 94 minutes of showboating Mr Lolli's change from a lumpy fat guy, and a self-proclaimed real estate mogul, to being on a stage in a small-time, low level physique show (in which everyone is his category was named "the winner").

Clearly, this man lost a lot of weight and built his body to something quite different to what it was before. That is all quite fine. But for the viewer, there is very little in the way of details of how he did what he did and what he had to go through, day in, day out, week in week out, month in month out. And apart from a couple of sad events that occurred during his transformation, there isn't any footage of him struggling, of giving up, of getting despondent/dispirited/demotivated or tired, or of being unable to continue when working out. There is no mention of any issues with giving up the crap food he was eating, or how he felt, day in day out. Then there are these numerous and pointless few seconds shots of him saying "Today is (enter date)" blah blah blah - what exactly is the point of showing the viewer that Mr director? In 9-10 months, we learned very little of what Mr Lolli went through to transform his body, but we saw lots of footage of biceps flexing, irritating stomach showing (by Mr Lolli and from one of his trainers, who is highly irritating and clearly in love with himself), and lots of footage of him doing various exercises, but none of him struggling, or in pain, or also, how much money he had to spend for all that he chose to do and that he lavished on all the people involved with him, which looks like many thousands of dollars, once it is all added up. And of course, Mr Lolli is not working, so he doesn't have that aspect to deal with, unlike 95% of other people.

It seems that Mr Lolli didn't want to show any aspects of his journey that don't make him look good or that he didn't have to fight (win) over. Indeed, this a naked self-promotion for Mr A. Lolli, masquerading as a documentary, and which shows no failures of Mr Lolli, or any issues that face a large percentage of the population who are in similar positions to Mr Lolli, but who are not like him and do not have the resources he does.

There is also just too much footage of pointless scenes, of highly obtrusive music, flashy lights, etc., which just adds to the off putting message of this unhelpful and waste of hard disk space.

The various glaring omissions are quite significant, because glossing over numerous and complex issues, including the mental/emotional aspects that plague/frequent many of those who seek to lose weight or get fit, are very difficult barriers to overcome and Mr Lolli's 'look at how great I am" advertorial does zero for such people.

This is just an advert for how great Mr Lolli is. But we don't know what he actually went through to get from where he was to where he ended up.

If you thought body transformation shows are a bit dull and self indulgent then you ain't seen nothing yet!

With massive resources at his disposal our hero decides to finally do something about the weight problem that has beset him most of his life. He sets about hiring a squad of personal trainers and a nutritionist (who came from Ireland but sounds about as Irish as Paddy the Greek) and films the whole thing.

To be fair, he actually does the work and gets stunning results but this is hardly an inspirational tale. He and his buddy also decide early on that they are going to 'monetise' the whole endeavour which left me with questions about the true motivation here. Very dull film which I switched off about half way through as it mostly consisted of him announcing the day and date of his training sessions into his phone camera.

Not a character you can root for or particularly like. Also, telling a three year old not to have a french fry because they will get fat, set off alarm bells with me.

I would love to see the movie about the person who has not got two cents to rub together, who has to use park benches and milk cartons because he can't afford a gym membership, who does this like his life literally depended on it and who shares a message of 'if I can, you can and no excuses'. Now THAT would be truly inspirational.

So let me get this straight. A millionaire hires 3 personal trainers and a nutritionist and thinks you can do the same thing? Suuuuure. This was in no way educational or inspiring. Showboating to the fullest. Just a money grab to pay for all the expensive training and flying a dude from Ireland to cook for him. Don't waste your time watching this.

This guy clearly can't get enough of himself....shot after shot of him working out, posing, talking about how amazing he is at everything. If anyone else speaks, it's usually about how amazing he is. Good for him for having enough money and time to hire a bunch of trainers to help him power through that much weight loss in 9 months. Just don't expect him to impart any meaningful training or dietary info to help you on your own fitness journey. Wife needs help with the kids? Nope, gotta hit the gym and take more video of myself working out. If you're up for watching 90 minutes of self indulgent instagram posts strung together into a "documentary," then this is for you.