Credit: www.impawards.com
Director:
Richard Linklater
Cast:
Wilmer Valderrama”¦”¦”¦.Raul
Greg Kinnear”¦”¦”¦.Don
Ashley Johnson”¦”¦”¦.Amber
Catalina Sandino Moreno”¦”¦”¦.Sylvia
Paul Dano”¦”¦”¦.Brian
Lou Taylor Pucci”¦”¦”¦.Paco
Fox Searchlight Pictures presents Fast Food Nation. Written by Linklater and Eric Schlosser, based on Schlosse’s book. Running time: 113 minutes. Rated R (for disturbing images, strong sexuality, language and drug content).
Are we a nation of non-cooks? Everyday, morning, noon, and night (and sometimes after hours too) millions stop at fast-food restaurants and load up on greasy and fatty foods. And most times they don’t even step out of their car, preferring the drive-thru lane instead. Because time is precious, and slowing down to take a measly stroll inside a restaurant geared to serving fast would be a disservice to its importance to the commuters who don’t have time to sit down and eat.
But the real question isn’t how Whoppers and Big Macs are a Godsend to those in a hurry; the question is: How are those burgers actually made?
If Charlton Heston made you reconsider about eating soylent green (it’s people after all), then Richard Linklate’s Fast Food Nation may make you not want to eat another hamburger. But who are we kidding? Morgan Spurlock’s depth-defying endurance test — a month-long diet of nothing but fast food (as he documented in Super Size Me) — fell on the deaf ears of those Americans who don’t count calories or have never heard of trans fats.
Patties and Politics, they go hand in hand. Told from three different perspectives, this fictionalized adaptation of Eric Schlosse’s best-selling non-fiction work shows what it takes to make a hamburger. It starts with the big burger chains turning a blind eye to possible harmful substances and filters down to the exploitation of illegal immigrants working in a bovine slaughterhouse. Not to mention those menial employees whose job it is to put the frozen meat on hot, already calibrated grills, and top the sizzled meat by placing it underneath contraptions that pre-measure the condiments for easy dispersal.
With a narrative that tries to mimic Steven Soderberg’s Traffic, the film is ambitious and insightful, giving us an eyeful of the goings-on behind closed doors. But despite its glaring look at the practices of the fast-food industry, it leaves you unsatisfied. Which is funny when you consider the subject matter. Mmmm, burgers.
Muddled storytelling aside, Linklate’s film does have a few things going for it. Foremost is the ensemble cast. The list reads like a who’s who of young and established actors. There’s Thumbsucker‘s Lou Taylor Pucci and Little Miss Sunshine‘s Paul Dano; skateboard rocker Avril Lavigne and country star Kris Kristofferson; Academy Award nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace); and recognizable faces Patricia Arquette and Esai Morales, among others.
In such an ensemble the brightest star is Wilmer Valderrama. He gives an understated performance as Raul, one of the illegals who crosses the border with other immigrants with jobs already lined up in Colorado at a meatpacking plant. Valderrama’s performance is mostly in Spanish, a nice departure from “Fez”, his foreign kid with a lisp routine that he did for seven years on TV’s That ‘70s Show.
In what can only be described as “I can’t believe I’m seeing her after all these years”, Ashley Johnson, the littlest pain on Growing Pains, plays the head cashier Amber at the California-based burger chain “Mickey’s”. A simple jab at the McDonald’s chain, maybe. But looking into the background, McDonald’s restaurants are well established. As is Wal-Mart, another multi-billion dollar conglomerate that’s gotten into hot water with rumblings of hiring illegal immigrants.
The corporate side of the story comes from Don (Greg Kinnear), Marketing VP of Mickey’s. When he receives word that scientists at Texas A&M somehow obtained beef patties of Mickey’s “Big One” burger, and learns of their testing results (not good by a long shot), he is sent to the source of the problem: the slaughterhouse in Colorado. The main artery in producing Mickey’s frozen beef patties.
Linklater cross-cuts between these three stories, shifting between Kinnea’s discoveries in Colorado (the plant isn’t as sterile as he was lead to believe), the exploitation of Mexican workers, and the disaffection felt by Amber, juggling high school and a part-time job to help her Mom with the bills.
The problem most movies with multi-faceted stories face is too much emphasis on one story, and not enough on the others. Certain story arcs are introduced early and are forgotten, only to be brought back at the finale. As is the case of Kinnea’s character who disappears for large chunks of time.
Then there’s the cameos by stars such as Bruce Willis and Ethan Hawke. Their appearances are a bit distracting. When they’re gone, you wonder, “What was the point?”
Having never read Fast Food Nation, instead looking at this from a film-love’s perspective, Linklater and Schlosser would have been better off focusing on one aspect of the fast-food industry and expand it into a 90-minute or two hour feature. The three-tier story is average and not very cohesive, but the message of the fast-food industry and the work that goes into making a less-than-five-dollar meal will linger well after the credits have rolled.
Maybe next time you’ll think about brown bagging it to work.
