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Plot Summary
Inspired by the incendiary New York Times bestseller that exposed the hidden facts behind America's fast food industry, Fast Food Nation combines an all-star ensemble cast lead by Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama and Avril Lavigne with riveting, interlocked human stories to serve up a firecracker of a movie that jumps off the screen. When a marketing executive (Kinnear) for the Mickey's burger chain is told there's a nasty secret ingredient in his latest culinary creation The Big One, he heads for the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate... but discovers the truth a bit difficult to swallow.
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Director
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
50%- Reviews Counted: 145
- Fresh: 73
- Rotten: 72
- Average Rating: 5.7/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: To a degree, Fast Food Nation gets the job done, not least because of a harrowing section, late in the film, made up of actual slaughterhouse footage.
Rotten: The fiction that Schlosser and the director Richard Linklater have extracted from the book is a mess, with narrative lines that go astray or simply wind up in the air.
Rotten: Too many story threads are consistently ignored or dropped altogether.
Fresh: Fast Food Nation is alternately funny and disturbing, and surprisingly informative, even as it sacrifices some of its strength by lecturing to an audience that might be snacking on fake cheese-covered corn chips and calorie-laden cola.
Customer Reviews
What was the point?
I don't get it. This is a movie about a bunch of random people who work at various levels of the fast food business. All of the personal stories are contrived and staged to reveal some fact about the food industry. The most important stuff doesn't really appy to fast food anyway - it's more about meat packing in general. After watching it for two hours none of the character stories really go anywhere. Wouldn't this haven been a better as a documentary that gets to the point? And after wasting all the time you invest in it, the story climaxes with an uncencored journey through the "kill floor" of a meat packing plant, which is treated like some kind of tradgic event when cows are turned into beef. What does that have to do with fast food? Is this some kind of anti-meat eating, pro-vegitarian comentary?
It's been a while since I read Fast Food Nation, but if memory serves it was thoughtful commentary on the people who create a uniquley american industry, with specific stories about specific companies. Fast Food Nation the movie is about a fictional company filled with fictional people that tells us nothing important about anything. Unless you're going to be shocked to find out they kill cows to make beef, you're not going to learn anything.
Beware all Avril fans
If you are just looking for Avril on the big screen with a hefty amount of play then do not bother watching this movie. But if you are interested in the subject matter, I suggest you rent then buy. The movie does have some nudity so try to keep children from watching this. The movie graphics are not really bloody until the end of the movie where a long scene exposes the "kill floor".
Another great Participant film
I AM A BEEF EATER. I love hamburgers, prime rib, ribeye steak and filet mignon. I can't imagine not ever eating red meat. After watching this film however, I can see why people choose to become vegetarian or vegan.
Although a previous reviewer commented that the film has nothing to do with fast food, I disagree. The fast food industry makes a lot of money. This film provides us with a glimpse into what makes that industry "successful." Fast food burger chains' main product is unsurprisingly cheap beef. The film informs audiences, to some degree, exactly how that beef is cheap, which includes:
- the treatment of cattle
- the food fed to cattle
- the frightening process in which cattle is turned into beef
- the less-than preferred standards of cleanliness in meat packaging plants
- and unfair labor practices
These are all the things that we do not even think about when we buy our burgers, but are parts of the process in providing us with our $1.99 burgers.
All this was provided with an inspirational message to youth as well. Be yourself and make a difference.
This is definitely worth the purchase and it is a steal if you get it for $4.99
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