|
Fast Food Nation
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Greg Kinnear
Genre:
Drama
Run Time: 116
min.
Release Date:
November 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
There are some fantastic
informative passages in FAST FOOD NATION but it is put together
in such haphazard fashion, and with such long narrative expositions from
the characters, that it fails as entertainment but succeeds as a warning
call to the general population about the dangers of meat packing
facilities and the decline of the individual family farm.
Had Fast Food Nation been a documentary, it most certainly
would’ve been a great information venue. But, for unknown reasons,
director Richard Linklater decided to take a nonfiction book and turn it
into a fictional film. Although the spirit of the book lives within the
frames of the film, the screenplay itself lacks any kind of emotional
wallop (except for the ending which we’ll cover in a moment).
There really isn’t a main protagonist in the film; there are several
“main” characters that we follow but none of them are focused on
in-depth. Mostly we follow the lives of Don Henderson
(Greg Kinnear,
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) and Sylvia
(Catalina Sandino Moreno). Don is the VP for a marketing company that
produced the highly successful “Big One” burger sold at a
McDonald’s-like restaurant. When he’s pulled into the CEO’s office one
day, he’s told that there’s manure in their burgers and he has to find
out how and where it’s coming from. His less-than-exciting travels
lead him to a large slaughterhouse where’s he’s given the dime tour but
not shown the truth. When he encounters a gruff, demeaning man who helps
run the meat packing facility, Don has to decide between his job or his
values.
Sylvia is an illegal Mexican immigrant who crosses into the U.S. for
work and gets stuck in a job at the meat packing plant along with her
husband. Not happy with the type of work she’s doing, she changes jobs
and becomes a housekeeper at a motel. But when her husband gets injured,
she’s forced to return to the meat packing plant and to an even more
loathsome job than before. Now she’s on the slaughter line, yanking
kidneys. This is probably one of the more visceral things viewers will
“feel” while watching Fast Food Nation (but it's near the very end). Witnessing a bullet going into a
cow’s head is something that might make watchers cringe or turn away.
But, let’s be honest, this is what happens to cattle before they’re
beautifully wrapped up in cellophane at the local market.
There are other storylines that pop up but they’re not really what the
movie’s about. It’s supposed to be about the dangers of mass market meat
packing and how unsanitary and unsafe these packing places are. When
these “other” storylines come about, they really pull the viewer away
from what they’re supposed to be focusing on.
The strange thing, too, is that this isn’t a “bad” film. It’s message —
although sometimes lost — is important. The killing and packaging of a cow
every 10 seconds or less can’t be maintained without episodic accidents
(both human and machine). Manure will get into the beef, and packing
plant workers will get injured. That’s a message you can take to the
market. And you should. But we’re not just talking about a film’s
message. Fictional movies are supposed to be entertaining, and that’s
where this one failed.
(back to top) |
Image from Fast Food
Nation
DVD cost: $24.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The Smithfield Packing
slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, North Carolina, is the largest pork
processing plant in the world. Every day, the 5,500 workers there
slaughter, cut, pack and ship up to 34,000 hogs. That’s one hog every 5
to 8 seconds. This is an accident waiting to happen.
Movie Quote: "The
fecal coliform levels were just off the charts."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Fast Food Nationn
   |
