Starring: Greg Kinnear and Catalina Sandino Moreno
Director: Richard Linklater
Rating: Zero of Ten Stars
I've tried three times to sit through this movie. The longest I lasted was 43 minutes, and then I decided cleaning my bathroom would be a far better use of my time.
The story revolves around a fast food company executive (Kinnear) who gradually comes to realize he is working for an Evil Corrupting Influence in America and (near as I can tell, since I've never lasted long enough to see where the film ends up) eventually joins with the minimum wage workers in the company's restaurants and the exploited illegal aliens who work in the food processing plants in a "revolt" against the company.
I can imagine all kinds of biting, hard-hitting and extremely funny satire in the film's subject matter, even if I don't agree with some of the political messages co-writer/director Linklater is shoving down viewers' throats like foul-tasting Big Macs. But, sadly, Linklater seems more interested in preaching politics than actually entertaining... and as such he actually managed to make a political comedy less funny than "Silver City" and An American Carol. (I could at least sit through those travesties.)
I suppose I'm being a little unfair giving this movie a Zero Rating since I haven't watched the whole thing. Considering some of the crap I have been able to sit through that I awarded the lowest possible rating to, I think three failed attempts at getting through this ill-begotten sermon make it an appropriate and fair rating.
I'd love to hear a defense of the film, though. Does it better? Should I have used the "chapters" feature to skip the huge swaths of film that put me in mind of the cow dung that is supposedly in the fast food burgers that serve as the film's running thread?
Posts
Hello, Steve!
ReplyDeleteHaving read Eric Schlosser's book, I, like most people, thought it would be turned into a documentary. Eventually, the closest we got to this was Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me and Schlosser's input in Food, Inc.
In the interim, this unnecessary adaptation into a work of fiction was foisted upon people. By comparison, Good Burger is more contemplative!
Thank goodness I waited for its arrival on cable before I bothered to see it. What a waste of talent!
Agreed. It's rare to see so many good actors in such a stinker of a movie.
ReplyDelete