Review of Fast Food Nation (2006) by Kenneth L — 24 Jul 2010

Linklater's fictionalized adaptation of Eric Schlosser's book of the same name is, not unlike it's namesakes, quite a mixed bag. When fast food marketing manager Don Anderson (Kinnear) is sent out on a quest to investigate why there's 'shit in the meat' of their fast-food chain Mickey's, Linklater takes us on a journey into the complex, often rich tapestry of what goes into the production of a 99c burger. We have the undocumented Mexican workers who take on jobs at the meatpacking plant under investigation, we have the idealistic teenagers who work at the fast food chain while clinging on to their own ambitions and principles, the corporate executives who continue to work on callibrating tastes and smells for the mass market and profit margins.

Linklater's strengths are in his ability to capture complex arguments sans didacticism in the most natural (even banal) conversations, and Fast Food Nation is no exception. At one point, the naive Don begins to get his hands dirty when confronting Harry (an excellent Bruce Willis) about the situation at the meat packing plant. Harry points out unequivocally that the plant provides jobs and that people don't always want to be told what's best for them, promising that he won't shut the plant down but simply kick a few asses to assure that these things don't happen again. Even as our Don swears that that won't be good enough, we realize that even our well-meaning protagonist would not compromise his comfortable job for his ideals.

Yet, of the numerous story arcs this proves the weakest, not because it doesn't make a strong argument either way, but because it often feels like satire even as it remains resolutely humorless. While it is to Linklater's credit that he doesn't resort to easy answers and lazy villifications of large corporations, it seems in these scenes that he isn't quite successful in keeping his snicker in check. Betraying glimpses of wry humor, Linklater battles satire in favor of earnest storytelling to varying degrees of success.

The human interest here goes to the story of the Mexican workers, which, in a stronger show of restraint, Linklater manages to avoid cliche in painting his characters as victims or martyrs. Catalina Sandeno Moreno delivers a strong performance as a woman desperate for work to achieve her and her husband's (Vilmer Valderamma) American dream. Bobby Cannavale and Ana Claudia Talancon are terrific supporting players as coggs to the large industrial machine striving for a piece of that American pie. All the actors play their roles with nary a glimpse of self-pity or judgement.

Then there's Amber, (Ashley Johnson) who works at the fast food chain only to quit as she is inspired by a group of idealistic college students determined to make a dent in a system they feel almost impotent to stop. The disempowered teenagers fantasize about taking action, and in fact eventually do, but to comic effect.

The stories are richly layered and complex but Linklater's vision never really materializes as a coherent whole. Unweldly but for moments of clarity and incisive argument, 'Fast Food Nation' seems like an indictment of everything and nothing. Whereas Eric Schlosser's book brings about a clear cogent argument for the genesis of our food and its true cost beyond its 99c price tag, Mr Linklater's film seems garbled by its uneven tone and paralyzed by his own ambivalence. The film fails to take off despite some witty banter. In the end, it seems Mr Linklater was so bent on avoiding didacticism that he's forgotten to craft a cogent point of view. It isn't until the final 10 minutes of the film before the curtain is pulled back and the actual slaughter is revealed. Yes, Mr Linklater finally shows us what needs to be seen on the 'kill floor', but one can't help but wonder - to what end?