Fast Food Nation Review
by Tim Voon (winklebeck AT hotmail DOT com)November 9th, 2006
Fast Food Nation (2006)
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 2006 Timothy Voon
2.5 out of 5 stars
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Greg Kinnear, Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Arquette, Ashley Johnson, Esai Morales, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Bruce Willis, Ethan Hawke, Avril Lavigne, Ashley Johnson, Kris Kristofferson
"Fast Food Nation' is more information than entertainment. If you have a fair idea of how the meat industry works, and how the meat gets from a cow and into your burger, then this movie will do little to educate you.
I am not sure how much of this movie is fact and how much is fiction, but there is enough information presented to give a person second thoughts about whether there burger meats are polluted. This movie shows that these meats may contain many contaminants by the time it is processed, preserved and then served. I would not be surprised that much of it is true, as independent documentaries have shown that there are enough preservatives in burger meat to allow it to sit on the shelf without rotting for 20 years. On top of this, the cows may be improperly slaughtered so that poop can get into the meat, then they may be cooked in fats that increase the likelihood of heart disease, and as shown into this film, the staff at the fast food outlet may drop the meat on the floor and continue to serve it, and if they don't like you, they will spit in your burger.
I am feeling a wave of nausea just thinking about this.
The film begins with Don Anderson (Greg Kinear) who is the inventor of 'The Big One', a burger that is similar to 'The Big Mac'. When he discovers that the meat that they use for his burger may in fact carry toxins and pollutants, he sets about visiting the meat processing plant that makes his burgers. He is shown a 'white washed' clean part of the meat plant, which is totally different from the stories of worker/cow abuse and mismanagement that he hears from the residents of the town. When Don confronts Harry Rydell (Bruce Willis), who is in charge of arranging the supply of meat for his burgers, he discovers the truth. He realizes that he is coming up against a lot of bureaucracy and when a lot of profit is involved, no one wants to rock the boat. Don appears to want change, but seems resigned that he cannot do much to make the system change.
The fast food burger companies are making money from the public. The meat company is making money off the cows and the illegal Mexican immigrants. The losers at the end of the day are the public, who may possibly be harmed by what they eat, the cows who are inhumanly kept and slaughtered, and the illegal Mexican immigrants who are injured without workers compensation.
This movie has certainly put me off fast food burgers for awhile. In fact it does have the affect of making you take a closer at what you eat before putting it in your mouth. This may not be a bad thing, because the biggest killer of humans in the 21st century will be obesity related medical illness.
Timothy Voon
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