Spring Break
'Fast Food Nation' Leaves Odd Taste
DVD Review
Daniel Gross
Issue date: 3/12/07 Section: Focus
The film adaptation of the popular exposé novel "Fast Food Nation," directed by popular cult filmmaker Richard Linklater, is now out on DVD. The amount of fanfare for this movie is surprisingly miniscule, considering the worldwide notoriety of the book, the fairly impressive cast, and the steadily increasing reputation of Linklater. Given the actual cinematic result of all this, however, the lack of fanfare begins to make sense. This is certainly a well-meaning movie, with both an obvious "message movie" agenda and multiple character-driven stories to tell, but it all ends up a muddled mess at the movie's conclusion. The large ensemble cast plays a part in many of the movie's strengths and weaknesses, the highlights of which include Greg Kinnear ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Wilmer Valderrama ("That 70s Show"), Kris Kristofferson ("Blade"), Ethan Hawke ("Training Day"), Luis Guzman ("Out of Sight") and a surprise cameo from Bruce Willis.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this movie is that it's not another hard-hitting documentary, but rather a fictional film with a heavy, Altman-esque multi-character narrative. In one story, Don Anderson (Kinnear), the marketing V.P. of the "Mickey's" fast food chain, is sent to Cody, Colo. to investigate a fecal bacteria contamination in a batch of frozen meat patties, unearthed by a grad-school experiment. He looks around the Uni-Globe meat-packing facility, talks with rancher Rudy Martin (Kristofferson) and meat supplier Harry Rydell (Willis), and ultimately learns much more than he cared to know about the inner workings of the fast food industry.
In another story, Mexicans Raul (Valderrama) and Sylvia are transported across the border up to Colorado by a man named Benny (Guzman). Raul gets a job with the meat plant, while Sylvia becomes a hotel housekeeper to make ends meet; both are faced with many problems along the way. In yet another story, a high school graduate named Amber gets a temporary cashier job with the local Mickey's in Colorado, as she reunites with her long-lost Uncle Pete (Hawke), and gets involved with a pack of idealistic college protesters trying to put an end to the statewide cattle feedlot problem. The film basically uses all these main characters as centers of their respective stories, and then goes on to explore the daily lives of many of the characters around them, from the disgruntled youth to the working class, and the sexual deviants among them.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this movie is that it's not another hard-hitting documentary, but rather a fictional film with a heavy, Altman-esque multi-character narrative. In one story, Don Anderson (Kinnear), the marketing V.P. of the "Mickey's" fast food chain, is sent to Cody, Colo. to investigate a fecal bacteria contamination in a batch of frozen meat patties, unearthed by a grad-school experiment. He looks around the Uni-Globe meat-packing facility, talks with rancher Rudy Martin (Kristofferson) and meat supplier Harry Rydell (Willis), and ultimately learns much more than he cared to know about the inner workings of the fast food industry.
In another story, Mexicans Raul (Valderrama) and Sylvia are transported across the border up to Colorado by a man named Benny (Guzman). Raul gets a job with the meat plant, while Sylvia becomes a hotel housekeeper to make ends meet; both are faced with many problems along the way. In yet another story, a high school graduate named Amber gets a temporary cashier job with the local Mickey's in Colorado, as she reunites with her long-lost Uncle Pete (Hawke), and gets involved with a pack of idealistic college protesters trying to put an end to the statewide cattle feedlot problem. The film basically uses all these main characters as centers of their respective stories, and then goes on to explore the daily lives of many of the characters around them, from the disgruntled youth to the working class, and the sexual deviants among them.
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