Food, Inc.

If you eat, this movie is a must see.

Director Robert Kenner works to unearth secrets about agribusiness monoliths that control virtually everything we eat. “Food, Inc.” is a humbling exposé that explores a range of facets of the modern food machine.

It explores consequences of patenting genetically engineered seeds - producers are eager to sue unconverted farmers into buying, keeping over 90% of soybeans planted in the country patented.

It examines the “veggie libel laws” that make it easier for the food industry to silence its critics - the examples seem downright unconstitutional.

It looks at how starchy snack foods are cheaper to buy than fruits and vegetables. And how all this unhealthy eating will lead to one in three children born after 2000 developing type two diabetes.

Apparently, nearly all the food sold in the United States is owned in some way by one of a few companies.

Even though cattle are meant to munch mostly grass, they are corn fed up to their eyeballs. Corn can harbor E. coli, be spread to the bovines, then to you.

What sounds like a better solution: feeding cattle grass to minimize bacteria, or sterilizing meat in ammonia baths?

The latter option is just one of many cringe inducting examples of the industry favoring cheap technological solutions over common sense.

“Food, Inc.” is well made, but not abounding with its own style. The focus is squarely on the content, which is where the heart of a good documentary should be.

It also takes its subject seriously but isn’t afraid to sprinkle in some humor. The facts were strong enough to speak for themselves, even though the film is somewhat of a muckraker. The food companies aren’t represented, but that’s their own fault; they refused to talk with Keener.

The film balances its factual horror with ways the average consumer can change their diets and change the industry.

I sat through the film contemplating the hamburger I ate beforehand, which may have contained meat from over 1,000 different cows, and concluded that I needed to make that change for myself.

“Food, Inc.” is the most important film of the year.

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The Proposal

The Proposal looks like it’ll be the big romantic comedy of the summer. But it’s standard fare for the genre.

Domineering editor-in-chief Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.

Andrew only agrees under the condition that he is promoted to editor. When the government investigates the possibility of fraud, the two must spend a weekend at Andrew’s family’s home in Alaska to make their relationship appear legit.

Andrew has a couple subplots involving gaining his father’s approval and a missed opportunity with a sweet ex-girlfriend. These are nothing amazing but help to flesh out Reynold’s character and their world.

This film is full of familiar rom-com material. There’s a cute old lady. Ridiculous comedy set pieces. The inevitable third act break up. None of this stuff really worked for me. I’ll admit, what drew me in was Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds brings his enjoyable smarmy humor to the role, and as usual, is a pleasure to watch. This has been a good year for him, first proving himself as a decent actor in Adventureland, getting a small part in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and now starring alongside Bullock.

On the outside, Bullock is a heartless shrew, but there is a reason for that. We do get to see her more human side as she warms up to Reynolds. But her character development is a bit of a mess. She goes from a soulless she-devil to an uninteresting goof and back. I bought her as the callous boss, but the rest didn’t feel as natural.

Their characters aren’t terribly deep or anything, but they’re more than one sided, cardboard cutout people up there on the screen. But Bullock’s transitions were still a bit iffy.

Rounding out the cast are Craig T. Nelson and the lovely Mary Steenburgen as Andrew’s parents and Betty White as grandma. The most enjoyable supporting role was by Oscar Nuñez of The Office as the town Jack-of-all-trades, whose duties include exotic dancer.

This movie isn’t going to stick with you. It’s one you enjoy, go home and forget about. It depends entirely on your tolerance for romantic comedies. If you like them, you’ll like this, if you hate them, you’ll hate this.

I’m kind of a sucker for them once in a while, but this one is nothing special. It wouldn’t kill you to see it with your girlfriend, but be prepared for yet another tragically flawed romantic comedy. Just make sure you know how you feel about your own proposal.

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Revolutionary Road

This is definitely not a date movie.

In an ingenious casting move, Titanic lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are reunited, but this time they’re falling out of love. And it’s not a pretty spiral downward.

Frank and April Wheeler (DiCaprio and Winslet) move into a quaint house in a Connecticut suburb with their two children. They live among local suburbanites trapped by their own lives, but the Wheelers believe they won’t get stuck in the rut too. However, work and infidelity eat away at their marriage until the two realize they’ve become another victim of middle class melancholy. Realizing that they have to make a change, the couple plans to move to Paris not to escape their lives, but to start living them. But when April becomes pregnant and Frank is offered a promotion the two are forced to rethink things.

Revolutionary Road depicts what happens when people realize they’ve settled. The film makes it easy to see how this kind of marital misery could have been widespread in the 50s and today for that matter. The film has solid directing and a great script based on the book by Richard Yates. But the acting between the two leads is where the film really succeeds. The scenes where Frank and April argue are downright acidic. They feel true to life and are sometimes painful to watch.

The film works as more than a narrative about its leads and becomes a pessimistic tableau of marriage and modern life in America. If you’re ready to walk away thoroughly depressed, this is one road worth going down.

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