"Traffic" wth meat

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To salute the limited opening of Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation (Fox Searchlight), here's my original riff from the Cannes Film Festival. (Six months ago...jeez, time flies.) I know I was one of the first journos to use the description "Traffic with meat." That's still the best three-word description I can think of.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 17, 2006 at 7:20 PM

comment #1

Mike Schaefer says ...

I saw FFN tonight in SF, a 7pm show at a theater which is usually very crowded on Friday night for just about any opening-day of a new film. (In the past it's been packed for stuff like "Pride & Prejudice" and "Match Point", even tho' the theater is not downtown.) Given the film's politics and the fact that this is San Fran, I expected a pretty full house...

...but there were about 30 people in the place. Which tells me FFN is dead in the water. That said, I liked it, I wish it were great instead of merely good, but things don't look too promising.

Posted by Mike Schaefer at November 17, 2006 10:22 PM

comment #2

The Winchester says ...

I had no idea the movie was even coming out today. It's been Bond all week.

Posted by The Winchester at November 18, 2006 1:14 AM

comment #3

erniesouchak says ...

This movie felt entirely too sanctimonious and contrived to me -- and I am a vegetarian and intermittent Linklater fan.

Posted by erniesouchak at November 18, 2006 8:26 AM

comment #4

The Movie Man says ...

It is contrived and sanctimonious and it never comfortably blends fiction and reality (not enough narrative for fiction or enough reality for reality if that makes the slightest bit of sense), but I think there are effective moments and the performances are largely strong (Willis's cameo as, essentially, the devil is his best performance in years) and this is a message that Americans need to hear. I would file it in the nice try, pretty good section.

Posted by The Movie Man at November 18, 2006 2:49 PM

comment #5

berg says ...

In one city, the company that handles Fox Searchlight outsourced the promotion for this film because they also handle McDonalds ... hmmm

Posted by berg at November 18, 2006 10:44 PM

comment #6

The Movie Man says ...

I'd though about that too berg, it's interesting that a film with subject matter this explosive is being dumped in a couple of hundred screens and being treated like it basically doesn't exist.

Posted by The Movie Man at November 19, 2006 6:40 AM

comment #7