Review of Fast Food Nation (2006) by Gina P — 07 Jun 2008

My God this movie degenerated in the last half. Some of the stuff in this film is quite compelling, but the images and facts are enough to make a point without the director Linklater making pretentious and simplistic comments ("It's better to do SOMETHING than to sit on your ass doing nothing", for example).

It also is very, very, very muddled -- Greg Kinnear's storyline just disappears, without warning. As for the other storylines (one involving Mexican workers at an abattoir, another involving a teenaged employee of the fast food giant), I struggled to piece together their greater significance.

I've appreciated some of Linklater's movies, but I think this one would have worked better if he just got off his high horse and let the story speak for itself. Compare the scenes in the abattoir in which we see the cattle being killed to the scenes with the teenagers talking about change.

How powerful the simple image of a cow being tasered is, compared to the wooden acting of Avril Lavigne and cheesy dialogue by Linklater and Eric Schlosser.