FAST FOOD NATION
US, 2006, 114 minutes, Colour.
Greg Kinnear, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ashley Johnson, Ethan Hawke, Wilma Valderamma, Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, Kris Kristofferson, Bruce Willis, Esai Morales, Luis Guzman, Lou Pulci.
Directed by Richard Linklater.
If Morgan Spurlock had seen Fast Food Nation (or read the book by Eric Schlosser who co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Linklater), there would have been no 30 days of eating at Mc Donald’s and no ‘Super Size Me’. He would have sworn off burgers instantly and forever.
The disclaimer at the end that any similarity to any characters is coincidental needs to be read with tongue-in-cheek. Mc Donald’s arches are visible at times and a list of fast food outlets is mentioned during the film.
However, the film’s intention is not simply to target the burger franchises, though it does that very, very effectively. By the time the film ends, we have met the executives, listened to their marketing ploys and advertising campaigns, discovered that there are probably traces of manure in the patties, seen acres full of crowded herds fattened on genetically modified feed (which makes them listless when fences go down and they could have stampeded to freedom), toured the spotless parts of the enormous Colorado plant, seen the workers hosing down floors (and rats) and, finally, been taken into the stun gun, blood and guts slaughtering halls.
The genial Greg Kinnear is the marketing man who is asked to go to Colorado to investigate. Along the way, we he listens to two entertaining cameos who put forward opposite views on the meatworks. Kris Kristofferson as a rancher has nothing good to say about them. He is the prosecution. On the other hand, Bruce Willis turns up with another of his clever performances as a good ol’ boy who is downing his burgers even as he concedes that things aren’t perfect and that Americans have become weak and too fearful of everything. Cook the patty well and you get rid of any impurities! He speaks for the defence.
Ethan Hawke also turns up as a rather free-spirited uncle who makes speeches about not doing what others say you should but listen to yourself and act accordingly. Patricia Arquette is his sister and Ashley Johnson is his niece who teams up with a student group to try to do something about the meatworks – rather than simply write a letter of protest.
In case the review so far gives the impression that the film is solely about burgers and fast food, it is definitely not. It is about the illegals coming into the US from Mexico, the smuggling, the harsh treatment, the poverty, the menial jobs, the ugly jobs at the meatworks which can literally tear limbs from workers. It is about the American dream – and how the migrants, used, exploited with drugs and sexually and victimised with false medical reports to say that workers had drugs in their bloodstream and therefore caused the accidents which maim them, thus absolving the company from blame and expenses).
The film featured in competition in Cannes, May 2006, the month that thousands of Hispanic workers went on strike in the US to highlight their plight and how much the fast food nation depended on them. It was shown the week that a force of 10,000 was sent by President Bush to control the Mexican border against illegals.
It might be preachy at times. The targets are obvious. But, a good story, some humour and some serious drama are not bad ways of communicating a topical message.
1. A piece of Americana, the beginning of the 21st century: social concerns, business and corporation concerns, illegals and Hispanics in the United States, the workforce? The American dream?
2. The Texas settings, the Colorado town, Cody? Mexico and the desert, the border? The cattle ranges, the towns, motels, schools, apartments? Musical score and songs?
3. The title and its irony, the focus on the fast food, the outlets? The fulfilment of the American dream?
4. The structure of the film: the situation for fast food outlets in the credits? Introduction to Don and his work, research? The theme of fast food, contamination, the investigation? Intercut with the illegals coming into the country? The trip to Colorado, the cattle, Mickey’s, the introduction to Amber and her world? The cameos and the partisan speeches? The action against the company? The migrants’ lives? The build-up to the crises? The end, irony, ongoing?
5. The Mexican sequences, the guides, the police cars, hiding in the desert, the trek? The hopes? The truck, the driver and his living in Atlanta? The delivery of the migrants, Cody – the men chosen for the meatworks, the women for the cleaning and sorting of the meat? The supervisor, his control, exploiting the women, sex, the drugs, dependence, his playing favourites, the women fighting over him, his domination? His ability to get people jobs where he wanted? The focus on Sylvia, her leaving the meatworks, working in the hotel, the filthy rooms? Raoul and his working at the works? Getting some money, the happiness with the eighty dollars? Their going to the restaurant – ordering but not knowing English? The filthy jobs, the rats on the roof? The man offering to invest money in his account? The women and the sorting of the meat, the build-up to the accidents? Raoul going to hospital, the man losing his leg? The company representative, initial sympathy, the false medical report indicating drugs were in the blood system, therefore no compensation or responsibility for the company? Sylvia, her looking after Raoul, the sexual encounter with Mike, for the benefit of Raoul? Her being taken into the abattoir section, the finale of the film? The fulfilment of the American dream? The irony of the truck driver and the new set of migrants – and offering them packets of fast food?
6. Don, his work, the marketing jargon, the Big One? Itty bitties etc? The executives and their being pleased with themselves? Don and his campaign? His going to the laboratories – and testing the odours that would attract people to buy the products? The information about the manure in the patties? His discussion with his wife, the jokes? His kindness in the family, reading the boys stories, having to be away? The interview with Jack? The investigation? The later discussion with Harry, Harry and Jack as rivals, Harry saying that Jack would be dismissed for fraud? Jack as earnest, the drive to Colorado, standing and watching the crowded herds? Eating at Mickey’s the discussions with Amber? At the motel – and the comic touch with the pornographic film? His visit to the works, the tour, everything clean? The discussions with Tony, getting other accounts? His visit with Rudy, riding through the ranch, seeing the housing settlement on the other side of the ranch? Rudy and his explanations? Against the company? The discussion with Harry, Harry and his discussions about the patties, allowing for the manure, urging everything to be cooked well? Don seeming to be a man of conscience? His return home – the final sequence, his still being part of the system?
7. Amber, her work at Mickey’s, the fellow workers, their spitting on the patty, their discussions about robberies, the theories and their plans? Amber and her study, her relationship with her mother? Her doing papers? Pete’s arrival, going out with him, the talk, the background of family? His encouraging her? Her work with the group, the plan, opening the fence, trying to get the cattle to go, her disappointment, the post-mortem with the group? The sketch of her mother, genial, supportive?
8. The group, their discussions, the decision to write a letter, very earnest, talking about Greenpeace, the student challenging them, Amber’s plan for freeing the cattle, their going to do it, having to run away – no achievement?
9. Tony, his management, analyses, the bad reports?
10. Rudy, the ranch, his family, fraud in 1919, the meat packers, his speech and its being for the prosecution?
11. Bruce Willis as Harry, eating the burgers, cynical, his comment on American fears, cooking the bad elements out of the patties and eating them? His being for the defence? Warning Don about Jack?
12. Pete, his visit, his part of the family, the family’s past, his speech about doing what you want to do and listening to your own heart? His supporting Amber?
13. The film offering particular points of view, the years of the Bush administration, the Hispanics striking to show how much America depended on them and their work? The guards at the Mexican border? The exposes of big business and practices, Enron, Walmart and others? The contribution of this film to the discussion about American values?
