If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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".

A look at the meat-industry from different points of views. We follow illegal immigrants who gets job at the meat-factory. We follow a PR-guy (greg) working for the fast-food chain selling the meat from the factory. We follow a family which have people working in the fast food chain. Also get a look into a group who's trying to expose the machinations of the meat-industry, and their desperation in trying to change the situation. The main word here is; chain. It's all connected. From the consumption of the happy family-buyers(MAIN CAUSE) to the illegal workforce to the disgusting feeding-pens spewing out toxic waste into our environment, one behavior creates the next(rain-forests for meat-production anyone?). And i won't forget the alien killing-floors, where these soon to be toxic, artery-choking, fattening, disease ridden,insulin-creating, adrenaline-antibiotic-manure-filled and devoid of all nourishment; future kids- meals are slaugthered...like they are cars being created on a production-line."Right now i can't think of anything more patriotic the violating the patriot act."But all that is needed is stop consuming(goes for any industry). But people are to lazy and ignorant for that("Idiocracy" anyone?). A little slow in it's places but overall a good movie with good acting. Cheers

The creators wanted to create a movie out of a book that detailed the issues with America's obsession with fast food. It's a wide ranging topic exploring the effect this has on health, food safety, the environment, illegal immigration, big corporations, land use, etc.Trying to 'humanize' this story for a movie-going audience was no small task. But the result is a series of monologues that almost read like a lecture on various topics. Bruce Willis for example had a tough job of selling the corporation's point of view. Kudos to him for doing a remarkable job of making it sound less like a stilted speech and more like an everyday conversation. A lesser actor like the ones playing the student activists were much less successful. The scene where they're 'preaching' to each other about the evils of corporate fast food empires looked too contrived - as if they were reading all the main points off of a cue card.The real 'human' story is the one about the illegal immigrants. The toll was greatest amongst these labourers too afraid to speak up about the injustices done to them because of their precarious status in the country.The vignette approach has its pros and cons. For our fast food generation, concentrating on anything for more than five minutes makes our head hurt. As a result, very few of the scenes last longer than five minutes. The result is a disjointed yet interesting snippets of info, drama, and melodrama wrapped up in a semi-preachy yet still worthwhile movie.7/10

This film is good on certain levels, but, well, not necessarily bad, but just iffy on others.For instance, I love the scenes that illustrate Greg Kinnear's character's position. It shows how people in fast food corporations are less worried about your health and more worried about making money. But this poses the question: Is it entirely the fast food corporation's fault? I mean, most people know that MacDonald's and Burger King and many other burger joints are generally bad for them. But they choose them because they like the food.The mistreatment of illegals is another issue that should be talked about and the film treats generally well. I love Wilmer Valderama's performance in the film.Probably the best part of this movie is where the group of young revolutionaries try to free the cows but the cows will not go. It shows how people's ideology often times clouds the facts, which in this case is that cows are not smart and do not know the difference between a slaughterhouse and a free environment. But Fast Food Nation contradicts itself in this scene. The entire movie is advocating a vegetarian/animal rights message, at least to me it is. Yet, it shows that animals don't know the difference between death and just another day, and they don't care.I absolutely hated the scene at the end where Richard Linklater shows the cows being skinned and chopped up. I promise it isn't because of the graphic nature of the scene, I honestly don't hate the scene for that. I hate it because Richard Linklater is doing what so many preachers of all religions do: He's trying to make you feel bad for eating meat by showing the "mistreatment" of the cows. He doesn't just use the movie to give his opinion, he tries to force his opinion on you, and I take issue with that.But other than the end scene and some of the film's contradictions I would say it's worth a watch, especially if you would like to see strong performances from Wilmer Valderama, Greg Kinnear, and most of the other members of the cast.