ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

WE ARE constantly told that you are what you eat. The real problem is knowing enough about what we consume to make informed choices. It doesn’t help that we seem to be a society that prizes cheap, convenient food over quality, local produce.

The problem is even more acute in America and serves as the basis for ‘Fast Food Nation’, a fictional dramatisation of the Eric Schlosser bestseller that traces the food chain from the cynical marketing executives in company board rooms to the vulnerable workers on the slaughterhouse floor.

Wide-ranging and generally entertaining, it lacks the impact one might have expected, and winds up preaching to the converted.

One of several storylines follows marketing executive Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear) as he is sent to investigate claims that the meat supply for Mickey’s Big One burgers is contaminated with animal excrement.

The film traces the journey of Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and boyfriend Raul (Wilmer Valderrama) as they leave Mexico, enter America illegally and start work at the UMP meat packing plant.

We also meet single mother Cindy (Patricia Arquette), whose teenage daughter Amber (Ashley Johnson) works in a Mickey’s restaurant until her uncle Pete (Ethan Hawke) confronts her with some home truths.

Struggling to emulate the multi-story impact of a work like ‘Traffic’, ‘Fast Food Nation’ has some bright moments and an impressive ensemble cast that also includes Bruce Willis.

It becomes harder to digest when characters start delivering speeches rather than having natural conversations, and the humanity of the piece is ultimately eroded by the need for one more sermon on the evils of the world.

Selected nationwide release

Director: Richard Linklater
Stars: Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Patricia
Arquette, Bruce Willis, Kris Kristofferson
Screenwriters: Eric Schlosser and Richard Linklater based on Schlosser’s novel
Certificate: 15
Running time:  116 mins
Country: US
Year: 2006

© Allan Hunter, 2007