This film is based on the non-fiction book by Eric Schlosser, but when it was being prepped for its jump to the big screen it was decided to have Schlosser’s non-fiction facts revolve around some fictional characters. The problem is that those characters are boring.
Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) is the executive in charge of inventing “The Big One,” a new super-sized hamburger for the Mickey’s chain of fast food restaurants. Another exec informs him that some unofficial tests have found feces in the meat patties that the Big One uses. He flies down to inspect the meat processing plant that Mickey’s gets its meat patties from.
Can I take your order?
Meanwhile, two illegal immigrants named Raul (Wilmer Valderrama) and Sylvia (Sandino Moreno), amongst others, are sneaking across the border to get jobs. Raul happens to get on at the same plant that Anderson is coming to inspect. We also peek into the life of Amber (Ashley Johnson), an employee at the local Mickey’s franchise in the same town that the plant is located in.
I guess that Schlosser’s book was supposed to be a diatribe against the massive fast food machine that exists in this country, but the decision to mold it around these fictional characters was probably a mistake. I didn’t actually hate any of them, but I thought that it was really much ado about nothing (read: boring).
I suppose that any organization as huge as the fast food industry/meat packing industry has its faults, but if this picture is supposed to be a “message picture” they should’ve wrapped it more in the bright, shiny trappings of the publicity of the industry that it hopes to skewer. Pardon the pun, but it seems that they put too many meat patties on the grill and ends up burning them all. The movie really doesn’t seem to go anywhere. We do get to see some really nasty stuff that you’ll see and not want to go into any fast food place to eat again.
It appears that this was the stuff that Schlosser uncovered (meat processed too hastily and eventually contaminated, low paid employees hocking a loogie in your food, unclean conditions, etc.). What they might’ve done was to make the film more of a comedy, there are some funny bits in the film but not enough. There have been many message pictures that used comedy, but made you think after you laughed.
Crossing the border
The film is ultimately depressing and therefore I think that the message against fast food is lost. In fact, it really gets lost in the various stories and characters they try and use to spice up the proceedings. We go off with the characters, expecting something to happen, and tend to ignore the “message” of the picture. By the time we get back from something not really happening with the characters, we’ve forgotten the message.
The movie also engages in bits of stunt casting, which makes you think that those sympathetic actors thought that they would influence the industry, but again those appearances don’t really seem to go anywhere and just come off as stunt casting. Some of the famous faces include Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Bruce Willis, and Kris Kirstofferson.
Fast Food Nation is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Richard Linklater and author Eric Schlosser. Next is the 55 minute “Manufacturing Fast Food Nation” that chronicles the making of the film. Some of the interviewees include Linklater, Schlosser, producer Jerry Thomas, Greg Kinnear, and many others.
Next are four short animation that appear to have been produced to tie in with the movie and probably appeared on the film’s website. “The Meatrix,” “The Meatrix II,” and “The Meatrix II ½” all talk about food processing but do it in a parody of the Matrix films. “The Backwards Hamburger” follows the path of a hamburger back on the path that it took from the meat processing plant. A photo gallery rounds out the special features section.
What do you mean there's feces in the meat?
Fast Food Nation must’ve been a groundbreaking expose of a book, but it makes a middling movie. I think that makers should’ve tried to make more of a comedy that made us thing, more along the lines of Thank You for Smoking maybe. All parties try pretty hard, but in the end the movie just doesn’t come together in my opinion.
Fast Food Nation is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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