I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A lot of problems like migration, the real face of the fast food industry, the way they treat animals, work accidents, people using methamphetamine etc. were mentioned during movie. But these problems could have been shown more detailed. Thinking of the basis of the characters, it was really insufficient. It could be a better movie but it's still worth to see to gain a point of view about what really goes on till we have our fast food meal.

This film tells the stories of people who work in the fast food industry, including top management, store manager, cashier, and illegal workers in meat processing plants. "Fast Food Nation" isn't as interesting or funny as I thought it might be. The vast number of well known actors aren't really put to good use, as they mostly have very small roles. The stories they tell are not very interesting, with the exception of the migrant workers whose tough lives and harsh working conditions should evoke sympathy. The cashier's story is rather plain. It doesn't expose the horrors of the industry either, except in the final few minutes where they show what happens in an abattoir. If shock tactic is to be used, why leave it until the last few minutes? And slaughtering animals is not unique to the fast food industry. Hence, the augments against the fast food industry is weak and hardly convincing. "Super Size Me" does a way better job at alarming people while being entertaining. This film does neither. I frankly felt bored most of the time while watching "Fast Food Nation".

Fast food chain Mickey's Burger has a hit in the Big One. Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) is a marketing VP in development in their California headquarters. Independent research has found extremely high fecal count in their frozen patties and Don is sent to the Colorado meat-packer to investigate. Old-timer Rudy Martin (Kris Kristofferson) tells him about the hard truths. Harry Rydell (Bruce Willis) is their corrupt meat buyer. Amber (Ashley Johnson) and Brian (Paul Dano) work at the local Mickey's. Amber lives with her single mom Cindy (Patricia Arquette) and they're visited by activist uncle Pete (Ethan Hawke). Meanwhile illegals like Raul (Wilmer Valderrama), Coco (Ana Claudia Talancón), and Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno) sneak into the US to become part of low wage workforce being exploited. Supervisor Mike (Bobby Cannavale) abuses his position by hooking up with Coco. Her sister Sylvia is not happy with the relationship and her drug use.Director Richard Linklater is adapting the scathing investigative book on the fast food industry by layering three stories on top of the material. It leaves the movie scattered, a bit flat, and too preachy to have much compelling shock factor. Linklater is caught trying to make drama while doing a documentary. I do find two of the three stories to be pretty interesting. I don't like Kinnear's character's awkward naivety. He's in the meat business but has to act dumb. Willis may as well twirl his evil mustache. There is a tale of corporate political corruption but it fails to dramatize it. Ashley Johnson is an interesting lead but her side of the story pales in comparison to the illegals working in the plant. I think that is where the movie shines and it also has the horrifying slaughter room walk-through. The movie would have been more compelling concentrating on that story.

Perhaps at the time this film came out it made news, but it is now merely a moralistic bore. Many writers have made hay of the beef industry and its hand maiden, fast food in recent years, so if you're paying attention, nothing in this film is really news.Beyond that, it is a bleak picture of humanity, which isn't unfair, just incomplete. The story is slow, uncompelling, and boring. I nearly turned it off at a couple different points and regretted that I hadn't. The end was a nice little touch, but not worth the wait.The characters themselves for the most part were very unengaging, cardboard-like, and simply uninteresting. The fact that this movie was based on a non-fiction book should ward off any potential viewer. I didn't heed the warning, and thus, I wish I had those two hours back. I would have been much better off reading a book about food than watching this movie.Don't make my mistake--there are much better movies about food out there, this one is terrible.