FAST FOOD NATION [R]
Modern indie vanguard Richard Linklater illustrates the evils of the fast food industry pretty blandly in this adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s biting exposé. While Jason Reitman’s Thank You For Smoking packaged its criticism (of the tobacco industry) in satire, the A Scanner Darkly director plays it straight, which is what makes it so grim and difficult to connect with. From the horrors of the slaughterhouse to the illegal immigrant pipeline that mans them to the insidiousness of the foodies’ marketing, Linklater dispassionately touches on all of Schlosser’s bullet points, putting us to sleep before the affecting inhumane carnage unfolds at the end. Standouts in the cast include voiceover workhorse Ashley Johnson (Mel Gibson’s daughter in What Women Want) as a teenage fast food employee with a conscience and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full Of Grace) as a Mexican illegal trying to buy into The American Dream. –Robert Newton