I have to admit that I think Richard Linklater’s work runs hot and cold for me. I loved his early works like Dazed and Confused (1993) and Before Sunrise (1995). I love some of his more experimental work like A Scanner Darkly (2006). But some of his movies just fall completely flat. Sadly, Fast Food Nation is in this last category.
I think part of it is that the subject is just too big for a dramatic movie like this. He just didn’t find a way to get a plot in his polemic against the fast food industry. Also some poor casting choices like Greg Kinnear hamper the movie. It almost seems that Linklater agrees, since his character disappears in the second half of the movie.
I wanted to like it. The subject of the movie is right up my alley. Unfortunately, the plodding pace and painful exposition just made me keep checking my watch.
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