Fast Food Nation (2006)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 144
Fresh: 73 | Rotten: 71
Despite some fine performances and memorable scenes, Fast Food Nation is more effective as Eric Schlosser's eye-opening non-fiction book than as Richard Linklater's fictionalized, mostly punchless movie.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 23
Despite some fine performances and memorable scenes, Fast Food Nation is more effective as Eric Schlosser's eye-opening non-fiction book than as Richard Linklater's fictionalized, mostly punchless movie.
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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 62,419
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Movie Info
Inspired by author Eric Schlosser's New York Times best-seller of the same name, director Richard Linklater's ensemble drama examines the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food and features an all-star cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Arquette, and Luis Guzman. Mickey's is the most popular fast-food chain in America, and The Big One is the top-selling burger that put them on the map. When the higher-ups at Mickey's
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Cast
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Patricia Arquette
Cindy -
Bobby Cannavale
Mike -
Paul Dano
Brian -
Luis Guzman
Benny -
Ethan Hawke
Pete -
Ashley Johnson
Amber -
Greg Kinnear
Don Anderson -
Kris Kristofferson
Rudy Martin -
Avril Lavigne
Alice -
Esai Morales
Tony -
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Sylvia -
Lou Taylor Pucci
Paco -
Ana Claudia Talancón
Coco -
Wilmer Valderrama
Raul -
Bruce Willis
Harry Rydell -
Michael Conway
Phil -
Francisco Rosales
Jorge -
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Roger Cudney
Terry -
Glen Powell Jr.
Steve -
Cherami Leigh
Kim -
Juan Carlos Serran
Esteban -
Yareli Arizmendi
Gloria -
Matt Hensarling
Kevin -
Mileidy Moron Marchant
Vicky -
Dakota Edwards
Stevie -
Raquel Gavia
Rita -
Hugo Perez
Francisco -
Ellar Salmon
Jay -
Helen Merino
Lisa -
Erinn Allison
Hotel Desk Clerk -
Barbara Chisholm
Waitress -
Larizza Salcido Gameros
Maria -
Lana Dieterich
UMP Nurse -
John Scott Horton
Greg -
Mitch Baker
Dave -
Aaron Himelstein
Andrew -
Frank Ertl
Jack -
Marco Perella
Tom Watson -
Armando Hernandez
Roberto -
Monica Cano Mascorro
Magdalene -
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Cora Cardona
UMP Translator
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Fast Food Nation Trailer & Photos
All Critics (152) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (71) | DVD (20)
The fiction that Schlosser and the director Richard Linklater have extracted from the book is a mess, with narrative lines that go astray or simply wind up in the air.
Top CriticTo me at least, there were just too many ingredients.
To a degree, Fast Food Nation gets the job done, not least because of a harrowing section, late in the film, made up of actual slaughterhouse footage.
Even if you swear off burgers forever, it won't make Fast Food Nation's characters come to life.
They say you don't want to see what goes on behind the scenes in the making of sausage or politics. Fast Food Nation blends the two, and the result may not be a very good movie, but it certainly is effectively disgusting.
Fast Food Nation is alternately funny and disturbing, and surprisingly informative, even as it sacrifices some of its strength by lecturing to an audience that might be snacking on fake cheese-covered corn chips and calorie-laden cola.
This is a considered film that lacks the immediacy of a blunt message like the more simplistic Super Size Me, or the punchy, smokescreen climax of a film like Syriana to send the audience out feeling enlightened.
Linklater is preaching to the converted.
It's about empty calories and empty life - ridiculous insistences that all kids see playing time regardless of on-field performance, the absurdity of porn as background noise, that revolution can start in rec rooms and the woozy lure of neon strip malls.
Distills a non-fiction book about the influence of fast food on the global cultural landscape into a narrative film that touches on the many of the points and populaces of the book.
'Fast Food Nation' might have translated into a compelling documentary. Instead, Schlosser's research is used as a springboard into a sluggish fictional narrative that merely hints at the grim reality.
Alt-weekly defeatism
Avril Lavigne even pops up to rail against deforestation. Who knew she could pronounce it?
Bloody exposé not for kids. Want fries with that?
preachy
This was never intended to be a conventional movie, but more like a personal industrial film illustrating the process that brings the corpse of a cow to your dinner table.
Fills us with too much stuffing to digest in one sitting.
The large cast is uniformly excellent and the film has been designed to stir the pot ... Unfortunately, audiences don't seem to be responding. Global warming is the hot button issue but our food supply and its contamination is just as important.
Audience Reviews for Fast Food Nation
Super Reviewer
I suppose that attempting to fictionalize a non-fiction book about a systemic problem sets one up to create plastic characters who stand in for larger social problems, and to put Richard Linklater whose characters are plastic anyway only compounds the problem. Typical of Linklater, the heroes and villains are clearly defined; the heroes are anti-establishment types who spout conspiracy theories, and the villains are either conspirators, dupes in the process, or like the cows in the penultimate scene of the film, too stupid to do anything substantial. There are some Mexican illegal immigrants who have some interesting differences from the basic Linklater approach, but these characters aren't substantial enough to carry the film. Additionally, plot elements like Brian's planned robbery and Don's further investigation are inexplicably dropped, leaving parts of the film unfinished.
On a positive note, the film's heart is in the right place. Linklater and co-writer Eric Schlosser are writing against fast food joints, and their arguments are similar to Michael Pollan's. With disgusting images of the kill floor in a slaughterhouse and charges that such places are exploiting illegal labor markets, this argument is strong, and I hope that it finds a receptive audience.
Overall, as a film, Fast Food Nation is not very good, but as a social argument, I can't hate it too much.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Nación de comida rápida (ES)
What we get here are a series of interconnected stories revolving around the various people involved with a fast food chain, and the role that the restaurant and various aspects connected to it affect all of these people, and vice versa. It seems like a rather odd and challenging way to adapt a work of non-fiction, but somehow it kinda works.
Granted, the film barely scratches the surface, and seems a little too neat, tidy, and convenient in places, but it strikes a nice balance between being a message movie like the similar Super Size Me or Food, Inc. and still being entertaining without too much pretense or over-the-top manipulation to make a point. Yes, there's some disturbing moments and images, but it's not as revolting and off putting as you might be lead to believe.
Instead, it's rather nuanced. and more about the human stories and the role of fast food within culture as opposed to being an extremist piece of muckraking propaganda.
As he is good at doing, Linklater has a wonderful ensemble cast lined up for this which includes Ethan Hawke, Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Bonbby Cannavale, Wilmer Valderama, and two wonderful,. if not brilliant appearances from Kris Kristofferson and (especially) Bruce Willis. Most of their performances are pretty good too...for the most part. Avril Lavigne sucks it up, but at least she's not in it for too long.
All in all, a pretty decent film. I'm not going to become a vegetarian as a result of watching this, and it didn't tell me a whole lot that I didn't already know, but at least gave some more awareness and the arguments that are made are pretty well balanced are well done, too.