Chronic Pain Doc ‘All The Rage’ Is A Biased Look At A Marginalized Doctor [DOC NYC Review]

Dr. John Sarno has, for many decades, been the face of a controversial movement in the medical community. As the head of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University, Sarno pioneered a psychosomatic treatment for chronic pain that focused less on surgeries and physical therapy, and more on emotional repression. His patients, he says, suffer from tension myositis syndrome (TMS), a condition where symptoms are created by the mind to cover up repressed traumas from childhood. In lieu of any traditional treatment, Sarno suggests his patients read his books, attend his lectures, and keep a journal. All of this has made Sarno a polarizing figure — a doctor unambiguously shunned from mainstream medicine, but a dearly loved idol to those he has helped.

It’s easy to see how a documentary about Sarno could be compelling. But “All The Rage,” a long-in-the-making project by husband-and-wife filmmakers, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley (and their collaborator David Beilinson), fails to coalesce into anything substantial. Rather than taking an even-handed look at Sarno’s practices, the film wholeheartedly endorses his work, which, intentionally or not, colors the lens of the individual stories within. Which is not to say that there aren’t compelling emotional journeys to be found in “All The Rage,” but rather that the film seems too indebted to Sarno — that instead of being a level-headed look at his work and its wide-ranging potential, it is more interested in serving as propaganda.

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The pitfall of this biased approach is that it undercuts Galinsky’s personal narrative. Raised by a psychologist, Galinsky and his twin brother are Sarno converts, both having turned to him at the behest of their father. Galinsky’s back pain, which he had previously conquered with the help of one of Sarno’s bestselling books, returns with a vengeance after the death of his father in an accident. His pain, which cripples him and eventually forces him to miss attending a film festival, does afford him an opportunity. After initially reading Sarno’s book, Galinsky and Hawley set out to make a film about him, only to eventually give it up due to a lack of funding. The return of Galinsky’s pain, though, served as something of a sign to revisit the project.

Galinsky’s intimacy with the camera is obvious from the outset. A lifelong filmmaker, he has no shortage of footage to establish the strained, tumultuous, and loving relationship he shared with his father (a key cause of his TMS). Similarly, the camera follows him everywhere on his quest to alleviate his pain, which includes appointments with a wide variety of nontraditional doctors and practitioners before he eventually goes back to Sarno.

The other half of “All The Rage”’ — its more magnanimous half — is dedicated to what feels like vindicating Sarno and his work. Galinsky, Hawley, and Beilinson track down the many famous faces who have been healed by Sarno (Howard Stern, Jonathan Ames, Larry David, and John Stossel, among others) and the doctors and therapists who support and validate his findings. All in all, the film does manage to create a compelling amount of evidence, and certainly a fair amount of goodwill toward Sarno, who is affable despite his tragic, decades-long toil. The problem is, the film is unwilling to present an even-keeled portrait. Instead of offering up a nuanced argument that highlights facts from both camps, we are shown only the gospel, only the evidence that TMS is the real cause of chronic pain, and only the patients who have been let down by mainstream medicine.

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Originally funded by a Kickstarter campaign, “All The Rage” reveals little sign of being the micro-budget film that it is. Galinsky and co. cut together years of footage into a cohesive, if itinerant, movie, one that, despite all of its biases, remains compelling (even if it at times feels like an avant-garde look at a cult of personality). It is frustrating, though, to see Galinsky’s story sidelined, used only in service of another, less worthy tale. His troubled relationship with his father and his inability to cope with his tragic death is incredibly poignant, and it’s a shame to see it continually relegated to the periphery.  

It’s easy to see that many reactions to “All The Rage” will be based upon how people feel about Dr. Sarno. Fans of his books and those who have been cured by his work will certainly be pleased by the inspiring stories of hope and healing. But those averse to metaphysical practices (to use a catchall phrase), and even those merely skeptical, might struggle with the full-throated endorsement the film revels in — an endorsement that might not feel so off-putting if Sarno didn’t have books to sell. [C-]