Ahoy, squirts! Quint here... damn... it's late... or early, but late for me. Gotta get me some sleep, but two reviews appeared before me for flicks coming out this weekend, so I thought I'd pass 'em along. Here's "Jubba" with his take on Richard Linklater's FAST FOOD NATION!!!

Hey Quint - I sent this to Harry earlier, but it looks like you're still awake so I'm also sending it to you. Cheers...

Tonight I watched a screening of the new movie "Fast Food Nation" and thought I'd pass along my impressions. First off, it should be noted that I have not read the book of the same title and I had no idea what it was about or how it was written, nor did I do any research into the plot or structure of the movie. I had expected this movie to be more of a documentary along the line of "Supersize Me" with facts about specific practices at fast food chains. It was set up as a series of loosely connected fictional plotlines focusing on the meat packing plant supplying beef patties for the fictional fast food restaurant "Mickey's".

The movie begins by following the illegal crossing of Mexicans into "U.S. Border Town" and begins to jump around from this storyline to others. Eventually we see the men and women hired by the meat packers where the women are used sexually and the men are injured severely on the job. Wilmer Valderrama (Fes on "That 70's Show") does a good job in one of these roles. Eventually we see the immigrants exposed to drug abuse and being mistreated all around while more and more of their family members enter the US illegally for this "opportunity". We get to see some very explicit images of cows being slaughtered but there is no real time given to the discussion of whether it's good or bad. It's just shown as a bad job for the immigrants to have.

We meet Greg Kinnear's character who works for marketing at Mickey's as he is being sent to investigate claims that there are high levels of bovine fecal matter in the patties being supplied by the meat packers. Greg's character eventually learns that poorly trained Mexican workers are being rushed and mistreated in the meat packing plant in order to crank out high volumes of meat and that many are injured while doing so and that the rushing causes cow intestines to leak feces into the meat. Bruce Willis shows up as the person who is supposed to be keeping track of health standards and says that he knows about it and that people in America are too picky about germs and that as long as they cook the feces in the meat, it won't hurt anyone. In the end, Greg Kinnear is disgusted but does nothing to fix the problem in the interest of saving his own job.

We are introduced to a young cashier working at Mickey's played by Ashley Johnson. Her character learns through her uncle, played by Ethan Hawke, that to make her dreams come true, she has to get out of her hometown and that breaking the rules for something you believe in is worth doing if it gets other people thinking about your message. She later meets up with a group of other students, including Avril Lavigne, who are like-minded. They attempt to set free a herd of cattle from a holding pen but the cattle have no desire to be let free and remain where they are.

Other than a couple of short speeches given by Bruce Willis and Kris Kristofferson, who plays a cattle farmer, there isn't much in the way of thought-provoking insight into the fast food culture of America. The lack of actual facts about any non-fictional restaurant leaves it unclear as to how much of the movie is fiction and what is in fact based in reality. In my opinion, too many mixed messages are in this movie. By the end, the lessons are that immigrants come to the US illegally and are treated poorly but they appreciate what they are given, fast food is processed too fast to be safe to eat or safe for the workers processing it, that big corporations care more about making money than providing healthy food or keeping workers in one piece and that no matter how much you care about something the bad guys often win. There were very few genuinely funny moments and I was bored for many of the drawn out scenes. I imagine the book might be a lot better if it gives each of its topics a more thorough exploration and give the audience something to actually think about. All in all, I wouldn't say that this movie is a "must-see" film. Now I'm off to get myself a Quarter Pounder.

If you can use this, I'm Jubba on your talkbacks. Feel free to edit for length, too.

Thanks!