Fast Food Nation

Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Ana Claudia Talancon, Frank Ertl, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ashley Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Luis Guzman, Bruce Willis 
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance 2006
Running time: 114 mins. 
Rating:★★★★

When a marketing executive (Greg Kinnear) for the Mickey's burger chain is told there's a nasty secret ingredient in his latest culinary creation, "The Big One," he heads for the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate, but discovers the truth is a bit to difficult to swallow.

The same director who did films like Dazed and Confused (1993) and The School of Rock (2003), gives you a "fictional" glimpse at what really goes on behind-the-scenes of the fast food industry. Wonderfully tied together side stories that all add up to the big picture: "Is this really what America is all about or rather reduced to?" The use of reds and browns along with the dark contrasts with the scenes between Greg Kinnear's character and Kris Kristofferson's character, when the truth about the meat plant is revealed, allows the audience to not only feel at home, but also to come to grips with the reality within this fictional company.

 As Kristofferson brilliantly delivers, "This isn't about good people versus bad people. It's about the machine thats taking over this country. It's like somethin' out of science fiction. The land, the cattle, human beings. This machine don't give a shit. Pennies a pound. Pennies a pound. That's all it care about. A few more pennies a pound." Now THAT'S a haunting realization that no one can not ponder or be shaken up about. How can one not gander about the lifestyle that they have come to be use to? Who can you trust?

This film makes me want to become a vegetarian with all the graphic visuals of the cows being slaughtered.