Fast Food Nation 
Actors: Greg Kinnear, Luis Guzmán, Patricia Arquette, Kris Kristofferson, Bruce Willis, Paul Dano, Avril Lavigne, Esai Morales, Ethan Hawke,
Product Description
Inspired by the incendiary New York Times bestseller that exposed the hidden facts behind America’s fast food industry, Fast Food Nation combines an all-star ensemble cast lead by Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama and Avril Lavigne with riveting, interlocked human stories to serve up “a firecracker of a movie that jumps off the screen” (Rolling Stone). When a marketing executive (Kinnear) for the Mickey’s burger chain is told there’s a nasty secret ingredient in his latest culinary creation “The Big One” he heads for the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate…but discovers the truth a bit difficult to swallow.
This was difficult for me to watch because I hate scenes of animal cruelty and slaughter, hence why I waited so long after reading the book 8 years ago (the film release was 2006). The good news for anyone planning to watch this is that there really isn’t any of that until the last 5-10 mins of the film. This is a fictionalized version of the book and it is seen through the eyes of some fictionalized characters – illegal Mexican workers who can only get a job at the meat packing plant, what happens to them and how they are exploited, fast food workers, a fictional fast food chain that sells “Big Ones” but is now sending out Greg Kinnear to find out why there is so much manure in their hamburgers and so on.
At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like it as it seemed to take too much of a light hearted comic approach, that is until it all got dark and serious and you really started to pay attention to what happened to the people and the animals (although the animals did take a bit of a back seat for most of the film). The final scene of the film with Sylvia starting her new job at the plant was heart-breaking on so many levels.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about where their food comes from. There are also two very good interviews with Eric Schlosser and Richard Linklater in the extra features on the DVD.
