Some movies are pure entertainment designed entirely for escapism, and others attempt to send a message to the audience about something important, be it political, personal, or societal.  In the tradition of Traffic and Syriana, the film of Eric Schlosser’s non-fiction exposé Fast Food Nation, adapted by himself and director Richard Linklater, is definitely the latter but it is a message, I believe, the audience isn’t willing to stomach.

In these types of films you have to review two different sides.  You have to critique it as a piece of art and entertainment and then separately on its ability to communicate its message.  First I’ll tackle Fast Food Nation as a film.  The challenge for Linklater was to adapt a best-selling, non-fiction, investigative book about the meatpacking and fast food industries — showing the realities of how a Big Mac becomes your lunch. In doing this he created a bevy of different characters, some with long arcs and others simply representing a “type” of person within these industries.  I believe he concocted some credible storylines that act as a conduit to showing us the rather down-and-dirty means to which hamburgers are made and distributed.  But I think he tried to be too ambitious and created too many characters that preclude enough time to get a full sense of their essence — we simply don’t get inside their heads, and this results in us not really caring too much about them.  

Standouts are the marketing director for Mickey’s, a rather obvious stand-in for McDonald’s, played by Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets) in an understated but effective performance.  His character represents the everyman seeking answers and not finding them, or at least not to his satisfaction or finding them and ignoring them, however you want to interpret his actions.  Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show) also gives an excellent performance as a Mexican illegal trying to make the system work for his survival.

Unfortunately, it is with the female characters that the film falls apart.  Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) and Ashley Johnson (Growing Pains) give credible performances, but the script doesn’t allow them to fully explore their characters’ psychological and emotional sides.  

As for the message, Linklater successfully paints a bloody picture of the process with which beef gets to our tables, and it ain’t pretty.  But I was left with more questions than answers by the end of the film. While I appreciate films that pose questions to inspire dialogue, I was more perplexed by what should be done, if anything, rather than wanting to stand up and fight the big corporate baddies.  Films like Silkwood and The China Syndrome did a much better job in that regard and also worked better as entertainment than Fast Food Nation because they focused on one set of characters and one “bad guy.”  Fortunately, nuclear power is a less accessible villain than the local burger joint — and more easily hated.

Fast Food Nation isn’t for the squeamish or for those who prefer their entertainment on the lite side.  Some of the scenes are worthy of the best slasher films, and the effect does accomplish its mission, but unlike China Syndrome — which made me scared to death of nuclear power plants, especially after Three Mile Island confirmed its message — Fast Food Nation didn’t preclude me one bit from stopping by the nearest Burger King after the screening for a Whopper with cheese.  Whether that’s a testament to our society’s dependency on eating at fast food restaurants or to a film that doesn’t quite stir up the crowd enough to cause a revolution, I don’t really know.  And that’s how I left the screening room.  I just don’t know.

Distributed by Fox Searchlight, Fast Food Nation is playing nationwide in select theaters.

Rich Burlingham