Review of King Corn (2007) by Robertb. — 15 Aug 2008

Deceptively interesting subject matter, boring film. Way too much time is wasted on things like the filmmakers interviewing their family members in the area, and minutes of transitional footage whenever the filmmakers travel from one location to another.

This would be tolerable if it helped to present an interesting narrative relating the the subject matter of the film, or if it infused the documentary with some sense of drama, but it doesn't. It may be difficult for me to judge this movie fairly though, as I already everything they presented from reading the first 109 pages of Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.

In fact, this movie is essentially just an illustrated version of the first part of that book, and Pollan appears to offer a few interview snippets during the movie. So what I'd recommend is that you skip this film and read the book instead.

Or if you don't feel like reading, watch Michael Pollan's talk on The Omnivore's Dilemma on YouTube, which goes into more depth than the film and is every bit as intriguing (and is free to boot), even if it lacks some of the imagery of King Corn.