While in Vancouver last week, we ended up going to see a preview screening for Richard Linklater’s new film Fast Food Nation. Based on Eric Schlosser’s nonfiction book of the same name, Fast Food Nation weaves three very different stories together to examine the food industry in America. The first thread finds fast food chain Mickey’s marketing executive Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) who is charged with finding out why there’s fecal matter in the meat they’re serving in their Big One burgers. While he’s investigating, he meets the young Amber (Ashley Johnson) who is working at a Mickey’s in small-town Colorado. Her story, that of innocence to social action, forms the second storyline in the film. The last thread, that of immigrant Mexican workers working at an abattoir in the same Colorado town where Amber lives, is perhaps the most poignant. Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) play young lovers who escape the poverty of their homeland to work awful jobs in the meat processing plant / slaughterhouse.
It’s a full-on indie movie, complete with pretty poor art direction (please, please could someone attach the laptop in the Mickey’s exec’s office to some power outlet or at least an internet cord to make it somewhat realistic?) and that slow, sprawling narrative style that fits both the storylines and the subject matter. The film is well written and well acted, with standout performances by just about all in the cast, but I’d have to say that Bobby Canavale, who I think is one of the most underrated gems out there as the stupendously arrogant plant supervisor, and Catalina Sandino Moreno as an immigrant working for a better life, give particularly poignant performances.
Linklater saves the most gruesome bits for the end, which I don’t want to spoil by going into too much detail about, but to say that I think anyone who eats meat should see this movie. Not to be preachy and/or all high and mighty, but knowing where your food comes from and how it comes to your table should be mandatory for anyone who eats a burger at a fast food joint. All in all, I don’t think this film will do gangbusters at the box office, but it’s an important film, not only because of its message but also to show the studios that you don’t have to spend millions to capture the essence of a good picture, that all it takes is a good cast, a solid script and a bit of heart. It’s not the best movie I’ve seen all year but it’s certainly a memorable one.