Going into the film of Eric Schlosser’s best selling book, you expect something like a Michael Moore polemic, or 'Supersize Me.' These are not good documentaries, but they succeed in making a point, however facile it may be. This film would kill for facile. For some inexplicable, unfathomable, impenetrable reason, Schlosser and director Richard Linklater have decided to transform one of the most successful non-fiction books of recent years into a fictional narrative. The result is patronising and self-defeating.

The script is unbearably heavy-handed, including lines such as 'This burger is really disgusting,' and long, long monologues about the Patriot Act in the middle of apparently naturalistic scenes. Alongside these lectures are 'comic' episodes, such as one in which the marketing team at Mickey's try to come up with a new slogan for their flagship meal, The Big One. Their favourite is 'I've got a Big One.' This feels more like the broad satire of 'Thank You For Smoking' than a serious critique of consumer culture. The tone is, to say the least, confused. And to say slightly more, ludicrously inconsistent. The only reason I can think of why Schlosser might choose to undermine his book in such a way is a desire to spread its message to a wider audience. Bruce Willis and Avril Lavigne make cameos here. That’s right, Avril Lavigne. She’s a better singer than she is an actor. And I don't say that lightly. There is something devilishly ironic in a movie that claims to be so resolutely against commodification selling its soul in such slick and slimy packaging. 'Fast Food Nation' reminded me of the new genre of movies ('The Constant Gardener,' 'Blood Diamond') that sacrifice their art to their politics. Except in this case, such a sacrifice was completely unnecessary - this didn't need to be a fictional film. As it is, not only does it sacrifice its art to its politics by turning a narrative into an ashen invective, it also sacrifices its politics to its art, by turning fact into fiction in the first place. It is a film without either art or politics. It is not a film. It is a waste of two perfectly good hours.