Film reviews: Fast Food Nation
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What’s the story?
Naive burger executive Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear) is sent to Colorado to investigate claims that there's excrement in the meat of his chain's biggest seller.
At the same time, young restaurant cashier Amber (Ashley Johnson) is awoken to the horrors of her industry, and a group of Mexican immigrants (led by Catalina Sandino Moreno) find their status being exploited on the floor of the town's meat-packing plant.
What we say
If Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me offered a grim taster of what a lifetime hooked on McDonald's might do then Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation provides a veritable feast of unsavoury information told from a "fictional" perspective.
Taking Eric Schlosser’s non-fiction book of the same name as its reference point, the film offers a three-pronged attack on the fast food industry, from its exploitation of immigrant workers to the ruthless promotion of its not-so-good-for-you products.
Greg Kinnear's burger executive grabs most of the best moments, including an eye-opening chat with a fed-up rancher (played by Kris Kristofferson) and a really frank conversation with a no-nonsense meat supplier (Bruce Willis, clearly relishing the opportunity to sink his teeth into lines like "we've all gotta eat a little sh** sometimes").
But there's equally noteworthy material in each of the other two stories – especially surrounding the plight of Catalina Sandino Moreno's immigrant worker, who gets to experience the horrors of the slaughter floor first-hand during the movie's most sickening moment. Whether the film ultimately does enough to give the burger industry cause for concern remains to be seen (especially seeing as the target audience probably won't be rushing to see it).
But it's great to see Linklater back in more hard-hitting territory, taking on American capitalism and global corporations in his trademark offbeat style. The result will certainly leave the more inquisitive among you feeling hungry for more.
Star rating: 
Certificate: 15
Running time: 113mins
Photo: Tartan