The story of then unknown filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's odyssey to uncover the effects of a solid fast-food diet,via an entire month of eating nothing but McDonald's,is pretty well documented by now. The darling(in tandem with Michael Moore's scathing and somewhat over-blown Iraq War/anti-Bush administration documentary epic Fahrenheit 9/11)of a number of film festivals,it would be the talk of anyone who had ANY interest in health,food education or simple curiosity about what it really WOULD be like to indulge in the world's most easily identifiable and popular fast food for that long.
A smart,well-thought endurance test for anyone who's had some digestive problems(of which I count myself among),this is a cheerfully broad swipe at not just the fast food industry(with small swipes at Baskin Robbins and the Soda companies)but at Supermarket retailers,the corporate strategies behind them,the educational initiatives(or usually the lack thereof),the disparity of food marketing,profits and advertising and--last but not least--social attitudes toward eating. Plenty of editing and graphic,a fair injection of "man on the street" interviews and,of course,Spurlock's own observations,reactions to the diet and pitfalls(which are a bit painful to endure at a point,to be honest)which are matched by the skepticism,horror and disbelief at his experiment shared by his girlfriend(a Vegan chef,no less!),a series of doctors and health consultants and even his mother. Truly a packed show that is largely satisfying.
A tad preachy,it still has a delightfully lighter touch than many of Moore's movies(particularly Fahrenheit)and while the social/health-wise impact the show maybe aiming for is somewhat negligible in result(aside from "not making" McDonald's eliminate the Super Size option on their menus not long after this show's theatrical run),it is still a largely entertaining and eye-opening tour de force. Extras on the DVD are somewhat "off the reservation",choosing to deal more in general food/health quandaries(for example:the location of breakfast cereals and candy placement in your average supermarket)than necessarily any direct relation to the fast food questions,but still definitely worth a look.
A smart,well-thought endurance test for anyone who's had some digestive problems(of which I count myself among),this is a cheerfully broad swipe at not just the fast food industry(with small swipes at Baskin Robbins and the Soda companies)but at Supermarket retailers,the corporate strategies behind them,the educational initiatives(or usually the lack thereof),the disparity of food marketing,profits and advertising and--last but not least--social attitudes toward eating. Plenty of editing and graphic,a fair injection of "man on the street" interviews and,of course,Spurlock's own observations,reactions to the diet and pitfalls(which are a bit painful to endure at a point,to be honest)which are matched by the skepticism,horror and disbelief at his experiment shared by his girlfriend(a Vegan chef,no less!),a series of doctors and health consultants and even his mother. Truly a packed show that is largely satisfying.
A tad preachy,it still has a delightfully lighter touch than many of Moore's movies(particularly Fahrenheit)and while the social/health-wise impact the show maybe aiming for is somewhat negligible in result(aside from "not making" McDonald's eliminate the Super Size option on their menus not long after this show's theatrical run),it is still a largely entertaining and eye-opening tour de force. Extras on the DVD are somewhat "off the reservation",choosing to deal more in general food/health quandaries(for example:the location of breakfast cereals and candy placement in your average supermarket)than necessarily any direct relation to the fast food questions,but still definitely worth a look.