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Fast Food Nation By Harry Forbes Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- By the time you've finished watching "Fast Food Nation" (Fox Searchlight), you will surely think twice before biting into that next Big Mac or Whopper. This dramatic version of Eric Schlosser's 2001 nonfiction best-seller, "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," is an absorbing, albeit bleak, multiplotted expose excoriating the fast-food industry for its dangerous, unsanitary and exploitative working conditions, set against the backdrop of Mickey's, a fictitious burger franchise. The story is told from the perspective of disparate characters. First, there's the company's marketing executive, Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) -- creator of "The Big One" burger advertising campaign -- who goes to the fictional town of Cody, Colo., to investigate conditions at the plant, and learns to his amazement that E.coli bacteria lurks beneath the white, pristine chrome surfaces, and that manure is infiltrating the meat. Then there's Amber (Ashley Johnson), a young Mickey's cashier whose maverick Uncle Pete (Ethan Hawke) urges her to pursue her education and improve her life, despite the complacency of her unmotivated mother, Cindy (Patricia Arquette). Eventually, her consciousness is further raised by an environmental activist group. And there's a young Mexican immigrant couple, Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Raul (Wilmer Valderrama), struggling to build a better life, who enter the country illegally and find employment at the meatpacking plant with predictably unpleasant results. The film directed by Richard Linklater (who co-wrote the script with Schlosser with a nod to Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio") is sometimes preachy and the ending intentionally inconclusive, reflecting the reality of the problems shown here. But the issues raised -- including the plight of illegal immigrants -- are timely ones, and the cast (including Bruce Willis as Mickey's Cody liaison, Bobby Cannavale as the lecherous plant boss and Kris Kristofferson as a rancher whose way of life is being eroded by the industry) offers solid, selfless performances. Partly subtitled. The film contains rough and crude language, a couple of briefly intense, if nongraphic, sexual encounters, fleeting partial nudity, innuendo, some gruesome slaughterhouse shots, and drug references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - - Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies. END Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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