I'm a near-vegetarian, and have been now for several years. I've been acutely aware of the of fast food factory farming, and I've educated myself in the horrors of fast food's effects on heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, soil erosion, greenhouse emissions, and the corporate greed and governmental indolence that allows it to poison the citizenry daily. In addition, I've battled my own addiction to fast food and obesity over years, and have helped my father battle his cancer through nutrition; I consider fast food a personal enemy, not just an abstract irritant.
Beyond that, I'm a fan of director Richard Linklater, and his "Slacker" and "Waking Life" are two of my favorite films.
In short, if there's anyone who *should* like "Fast Food Nation," it's me. But this movie is wretched disaster!
Linklater takes a non-fiction book as his source material, and tries to make a story out of it, or not--maybe he tried, maybe he didn't--all I know is it didn't happen. This a wandering, meandering mess of meaningless, useless characters.
There's a corporate schmoe who's just learning how unclean the meat his company produces actually is. A story almost develops around his investigation of how it's produced, but its dropped just when it seems to be going somewhere.
There's a group of illegal aliens hired by a criminal meat-packing plant--but we don't care about them either. They're presented as stock figures in ensemble. The attempt at creating a story for them is pathetically feeble.
Linklater trots out other almost-characters in turn, the high-school boy who fantasizes about robbing his fast-food store (but doesn't), and the girl who tries to set cows free, but these are non-events, too.
I lost interest in the film early on, but kept watching as long as I could stand past that point, well past the middle. After that, I fast-forwarded, stopping occasionally to see if there was anything worth watching. There wasn't, at least, not for me.
This is a crying shame. More than that, it's an infuriating shame. Linklater is nothing if not a visionary director, the cast is nothing if not talented, and the subject is nothing if not a matter of paramount importance. FFN should've been a wild, sardonic, exposé, a trip into the innards of the food industry's machine with the entertainment to keep you in your seat, and the honesty to enlighten you.
Apparently, FFN *has* worked for some people, and for that I'm grateful, but I can't recommend it myself. Morgan Spurlock's wonderful, shocking, and yet enjoyable "Super-Size Me" is the one to watch, hitting all the bases that FFN should've, with wit, humor, and compassion to spare.
Beyond that, I'm a fan of director Richard Linklater, and his "Slacker" and "Waking Life" are two of my favorite films.
In short, if there's anyone who *should* like "Fast Food Nation," it's me. But this movie is wretched disaster!
Linklater takes a non-fiction book as his source material, and tries to make a story out of it, or not--maybe he tried, maybe he didn't--all I know is it didn't happen. This a wandering, meandering mess of meaningless, useless characters.
There's a corporate schmoe who's just learning how unclean the meat his company produces actually is. A story almost develops around his investigation of how it's produced, but its dropped just when it seems to be going somewhere.
There's a group of illegal aliens hired by a criminal meat-packing plant--but we don't care about them either. They're presented as stock figures in ensemble. The attempt at creating a story for them is pathetically feeble.
Linklater trots out other almost-characters in turn, the high-school boy who fantasizes about robbing his fast-food store (but doesn't), and the girl who tries to set cows free, but these are non-events, too.
I lost interest in the film early on, but kept watching as long as I could stand past that point, well past the middle. After that, I fast-forwarded, stopping occasionally to see if there was anything worth watching. There wasn't, at least, not for me.
This is a crying shame. More than that, it's an infuriating shame. Linklater is nothing if not a visionary director, the cast is nothing if not talented, and the subject is nothing if not a matter of paramount importance. FFN should've been a wild, sardonic, exposé, a trip into the innards of the food industry's machine with the entertainment to keep you in your seat, and the honesty to enlighten you.
Apparently, FFN *has* worked for some people, and for that I'm grateful, but I can't recommend it myself. Morgan Spurlock's wonderful, shocking, and yet enjoyable "Super-Size Me" is the one to watch, hitting all the bases that FFN should've, with wit, humor, and compassion to spare.