Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Fans of Morgan Spurlock's engaging documentary Super Size Me won't want to miss almost an hour of extra footage on the DVD. Best of all is a 25-minute one-on-one interview with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, but other interesting moments are a chat with a couple who collects McDonald's memorabilia; an analysis of a supermarket's layout; further conversation with Big Mac fan Eric Gorske and his wife; a look at the deep-fried Twinkie; and a disgusting but funny piece on how McDonald's food rots (or doesn't). Spurlock also provides a commentary track along with his girlfriend Alex Jamieson (you know, the vegan chef) in which they discuss why he included certain scenes, how many times he ate McDonald's salads, and his recommendations for books to read and action to take. And because he and Jamieson received so many inquiries about the "last supper" he ate on film before embarking on his special diet, an insert contains the recipes, including the highly sought-after tofu and vegetable phyllo tart. --David Horiuchi
Synopsis
In this hilarious yet informative documentary, debut director Morgan Spurlock makes himself the victim of a cruel experiment: he puts himself on a 30-day diet of nothing but McDonald's food. Eating three meals a day exclusively from McDonald's, Spurlock's health quickly deteriorates. The film documents the process from beginning to end, with Spurlock and his doctors making observations and monitoring the changes to his energy level, moods, liver and kidney function, and obviously his weight. As viewers might predict, Spurlock gains weight at an alarming rate, and during this process he offers a shocking lesson about the serious problem of obesity in America. Clearly McDonald's receives the brunt of the blame, as Spurlock shows how the fast-food restaurant directs its advertising at small children, who are converted into faithful consumers of the brand--and its free toy giveaways, bright colors, and Ronald McDonald clown--for life. Spurlock also examines the quality of the food itself, showing the processes by which favorite products like McNuggets are made. He also shows the proliferation of McDonald's chains both in the U.S. and worldwide. Meanwhile, Spurlock's girlfriend--a vegan chef--observes Spurlock's experiment with disgust and disdain, providing one of many comic elements to the film. Educational, fun, and at times downright gross, SUPER SIZE ME takes a different approach to illustrating America's obsession with fast food.