Super Size Me

Rank

Top 20% of all time (see others with this rank)

Festival Year

2004 (click here to see all competition films from this year)

Category

Documentary Competition

Non-Cast Credits

Morgan Spurlock, Scott Ambrozy, Stela Gueorguieva, Bob Lombardi, Joe the Artist

Description

Why are Americans so fat? Two words: fast food. What would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for an entire month? In Super Size Me, a scathingly tongue-in-cheek documentary of epic ìportions," filmmaker Morgan Spurlock does eat that and embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. The rules? For 30 days he can't eat or drink anything that isn't on McDonald's menu; he must wolf three squares a day; he must consume everything on the menu at least once and supersize his meal if asked.

Spurlock treks across the country interviewing a host of experts on fast food and an equal number of regular folk while chowing down at the Golden Arches. His enthrallingfilm reveals that McDonald's spends $1.4 billion a year on advertising, insidiously luring children in with playgrounds and happy meals. What they don't do is return calls from pestering filmmakers: Spurlock's grueling drive-through diet spirals him inta a physical and emotional metamorphosis that is downright harrowing and will make you think twice about picking up another Big Mac. A fascinating and truly alarmingfilm, peppered with irreverent music and hilarious graphics, Super Size Me chomps into the legal, financial, and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food.

Reviewer

David Courier (see other films reviewed by the same reviewer)

Film Takes Pace.