I gave this documentary a rent this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.
I had heard about this story of a guy who decided to eat a "McDonald's Only" diet for 30 days and assumed it would be similar in tone to those annoying-as-fuck, ultra-pretentious "Truth" anti-smoking ads in that it was simply going to beat us over the head endlessly with information that even retarded 2 year olds know. Yes, we know that smoking and fast food are bad for us. Yes, we know if you smoke you might get cancer and if you eat McDonald's you might get fat. Anyone who doesn't is stupid. However, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's goal in this movie isn't to simply show you that McDonald's food is bad for you, it's to show you exactly HOW bad it is for you.
It helps that Morgan isn't a dick…he's actually a very likable guy and keeps things very lighthearted throughout the movie. He's not a vegitatian or a health nut or anything (he dates a vegan chick, however...from what we see of her in the movie, I'd imagine she'd get annoying real fast if you were dating her). He got the idea about this from the idiot fatties that sued McDonalds for making them fat, and a McDonald's rep denying their charges in a public statement and saying that their food was healthy. He decided to make a film that tested that claim, while addressing the issues of obesity, diet and exercise in America today.
The rules for the "McDonalds diet" were that he had to eat three full meals there a day for 30 days, he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything that McDonalds doesn't sell, he had to eat everything he purchased, he had to stop exercising (since 60% of all Americans don't at all), he had to try everything on the menu at least once, and if they asked him to Super Size his meal he had to say yes. Before he started it he went to several doctors and specialists to get complete check-ups, and these people continued to monitor his status throughout the 30 days. During this month, Morgan also travels around and interviews prominent people in the field of law, diet, and medicine, in addition to people on the street. But the physical and psychological changes Morgan went through during these 30 days were somewhat disturbing.
Anyway, this doesn’t come across like a Michael Moore movie where you feel like the filmmaker is trying to lead you like a sheep and manipulate your emotions by screwing with the facts. Morgan Spurlock just attempts to show you his findings and let you decide for yourself. To be fair, he interviews people who eat nothing BUT McDonalds and are completely fine (like the "Big Mac Expert" Don Gorske whose diet consists solely of Big Macs- he's actually filmed eating his 19,000th Big Mac and aside from a horrible haircut, he's physically in good shape).
So, the movie was interesting and pretty entertaining. The DVD has a bunch of cool extra content well worth checking out ("The Smoking Fry" extra is a MUST SEE, as is the interview with "Fast Food Nation" author Eric Schlosser). There's actually a commentary track (a rarity in documentaries) that's as funny and informative as the movie itself.
By the way, ANY movie that features Wesley Willis' "Rock and Roll McDonalds" on the soundtrack is worthy of viewing.
