So I went to see Fast Food Nation the other night at a Popcorn Taxi screening, and totally freaked myself out. It wasn’t so much a “this is a message” movie, rather a think piece – and boy it makes you think.

I haven’t read the book, but the movie is different in that it is a fictional collection of tales about people connected in some way to the fast food industry. There’s people that work at the back end – meat packers, choppers, etc, who are generally poor Mexican illegals that work for a pittance to escape the slums of their homeland. Then there is the marketing guru – played by Greg Kinnear, and the farmers, dealers, consumers, restaurant workers and so on. It’s great.

Unlike the book – which I am told is an in depth account of the industry and all its dark and dirty secrets – the movie simply tells a story, which is what I liked about it. At no stage did I feel like I was being told I was immoral for eating a Big Mac or Whopper. It simply explained where that shit comes from, and alllowed me to make up my own mind about whether or not it’s a good idea to support the fast food industry. On the whole, I’d say it probably isn’t, but it probably won’t stop me sneaking into a Maccas on the way home from a druken evening sometime down the track.

Like Kinnear’s character Don Henderson, I was shocked, but the end of the film shows him presenting the next campaign for the fictional chain Mickey’s new burger – the BBQ Big One. Clearly, he has simply put all the shit that creates the BBQ Big One to the back of his mind and continued in his job that pays well and keeps his family happy. Kind of fair enough, I guess, although a little shocking.

Like Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock’s superb documentary about screwing up your body on fast food, Fast Food Nation didn’t preach a message at all. In fact it was remarkably ordinary in that regard. I liked it a lot. Thank You For Smoking was something along those lines and also well worth seeing, if you haven’t already.

Fast Food Nation’s director Richard Linklater was available after the movie for a Q&A, which was great. He’s a pretty cool character, and listening to him talk about the movie it became clear he wasn’t a crusader of any kind, just a bloody good story teller. He’s proved it already, of course, with past movies like Dazed And Confused, but Fast Food Nation is a must see. You’ll be shocked – horrified even – but happy you did.