Super Size Me: The Painful Documentary That Will Make You Swear Off McDonald's Food!

The Good: Incredibly well-researched, Well-presented, Entertaining, Adequate DVD bonuses
The Bad: Immediately biased, Disappointing resolution
The Basics: Morgan Spurlock's debut documentary explores the very real risks of McDonald's food by placing the director on a diet of it for thirty days!


For years now, Super Size Me has been on my list of films I've wanted to see. Ever since I sat down in the theater to watch Fahrenheit 9/11 (reviewed here!), I've been an eager consumer of documentary films. Made before Morgan Spurlock became somewhat well-known for spending thirty days doing something (or putting two people together to do something for thirty days while he observes the results) and commenting on it, Spurlock became intrigued with the fast food industry, specifically a lawsuit against McDonald's. Obsessed with a judge's concept that those suing McDonald's needed to illustrate proof of harm from the McDiet (a diet consisting solely of McDonald's food).

Armed with a pretty strong supposition that the McDiet is unhealthy, Morgan Spurlock engages in a thirty day McDiet. Prior to his dietary experiment, Spurlock receives three physicals from two specialists and a general practitioner. After being deemed incredibly healthy, Spurlock alters his diet and exercise pattern to that of an average American and then he simply begins to eat everything off the McDonald's menu over the course of the month. While Spurlock's health deteriorates, he explores the corporate culture of McDonald's and the obesity problem in the United States.

Super Size Me is a remarkably direct documentary that starts with a simple premise Spurlock seems confident in exploring; that there is a direct link between McDonald's fast food and the obesity problem in the United States. Ironically, while Spurlock seems biased from the film's opening frames, he is able to present an incredibly unbiased documentary through the systematic and intensely logical methodology of his experiment. Indeed, while none of his three medics recommends Spurlock's McDiet experiment, none adequately predict the severity of the health risks the change in diet will cause.

And therein lies the subtle brilliance of Super Size Me; Spurlock captures the ambivalence of the doctors at the beginning to the experiment that highlights their growing concern as Spurlock's body is significantly altered by the change in diet. As Spurlock's liver becomes plagued with fat, one of the doctors who had been most ambivalent toward the potential negative effects of the McDiet becomes the most concerned over the risk to Spurlock's life.

Yes, eating only McDonald's food for thirty days begins to jeopardize Spurlock's very life!

Who would have guessed?

As Spurlock engages in the simple day by day consumption of McDonald's food, Super Size Me wisely intercuts with an exploration of the corporate fast food culture. He takes the viewer on a factual exploration of the history of the sizes of McDonald's portions, he explores the way McDonald's entices children through advertising and creating product recognition, and he charts the rise of obesity in the United States and Europe as it parallels the rise of the fast food industry. And, strangely, Super Size Me manages to be more objective and entertaining than Fast Food Nation. Super Size Me applies a level of methodology and professionalism that allows the argument to develop effectively on its own as opposed to employing the brutal (and entertaining) satire that Fast Food Nation utilizes.

Super Size Me is unsettling in its starkness. Despite the lighthearted soundtrack, this is a remarkably simple film that lets the experiment speak for itself. Once Spurlock's methodology is defined, he simply executes the plan and the viewer witnesses his weight gain, mood swings and his later cravings for the food he admits he despises. The addictive nature of the food is not explicitly discussed much in the film and that works to the credit of the director and the subject; seeing Spurlock eagerly consuming the same type food he vomited up minutes prior is much more telling than alleging an addiction!

Furthermore, the documentary includes some intriguing bonus footage on DVD. In the deleted scenes, there is footage of Overeater's Anonymous that did not truly fit in the film and was wisely left out. Still, it is interesting to see. As well, there is a deleted section on the toys and marketing props for McDonald's that one wonders why it was cut and is a pleasure to see on the disc (it would have powerfully reinforced the section on product recognition in youth to see two senior citizens with their $30,000 collection of McDonald's toys and memorabilia). Also quite effective is the deleted scene illustrating the trash generated by Spurlock's experiment that was strangely left out of the film as well!

But most telling is a special featurette on the food decomposition of McDonald's food, an experiment that is truly horrifying. Spurlock leaves several sandwiches and fries from McDonald's in glass jars for ten weeks (as well as a burger and fries from a fresh food restaurant as a control) and allows them to decompose. The result is, mildly put, disgusting . . . and fascinating.

And for as biased as Super Size Me might initially appear, it is a remarkably methodical experiment caught on film and the resulting documentary is quite effective at proving a causal relationship between McDonald's food and obesity. The disappointing aspect, then, is to learn near the film's conclusion, that the lawsuit that inspired the documentary was dismissed on the grounds that the people suing McDonald's could not prove the causal relationship that Spurlock's film so effectively demonstrates.

And, honestly, Super Size Me remains relevant and worth seeing outside the simple idea. I arrived at the film pretty much despising McDonald's food, and sense of corporate irresponsibility despite the Ronald McDonald charities, but seeing the effect and extremity of the experiment was so much more compelling than simply hearing/reading about it. It was eye opening just how far Spurlock took the experiment and the effect of it.

Lately, I have found myself underwhelmed by documentaries that state a simple premise and then either repeat it or drag it out without making a genuine argument, without desiring to bring about a change. Super Size Me is not one of those documentaries; it makes a case, it calls for action. And it does it quite effectively and in a way that is both informative and entertaining. In fact, it leaves the viewer wanting nothing, save to have nothing to do with McDonald's.

Well, with that written, I'm off to breakfast at my favorite, healthy and responsible fast food joint: Panera Bread. In addition to everything I like about it, after watching Super Size Me, I find myself liking it even more on the simple virtue that it is not McDonald's!

For other documentaries, please check out my reviews of:
Bowling For Columbine
Lost In La Mancha
Roger & Me

8/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? Effectively Denounces The "War On Terror!"

The Good: Good concept, Rather true and direct documentary
The Bad: Ultimately pointless, Light on supporting citations
The Basics: An interesting documentary that illustrates our preconceptions in the United States about the Muslim world are often at odds with reality.


[Note: This was originally written when the documentary came out, well before Bin Laden was found and killed . . . in Pakistan!]

Like many people, Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? never came to theaters in my area. The documentary, released on screen and DVD in 2008, garnered some attention when at one of the major film festivals, the Weinstein brothers bought the movie after the first ten minutes and shut down the showing of it. It was then released in theaters to little fanfare or notice and is now available on DVD.

Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? is the latest documentary from Morgan Spurlock, who made quite a name for himself with Super-Size Me and most recently with The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (reviewed here!). Spurlock is a pretty direct documentarian, appearing on camera with a simple question and then pursuing an answer to that question for the ninety minute film that follows. In Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? Spurlock begins a hunt for the most wanted man in the world and while the film starts out that focused, it quickly becomes a broader discussion on Middle Eastern terrorism and the U.S.'s "War On Terror" before narrowing back to that question in the end. But for those hoping the question will be answered, it doesn't ruin anything to say that Osama Bin Laden is not, in fact, out in the open (which is largely where Spurlock looks in this movie).

Upon learning that his partner Alexandra Jamieson is pregnant, Morgan Spurlock becomes obsessed with the idea of developing into a good parent. He quickly acknowledges a command of being able to take care of a child on the little things, like covering the electrical sockets and not drowning a baby in a tub, but he begins to question what can be done to keep his baby safe from harm outside the home. This leads him to the rather extraordinary leap that in order to bring a baby into the world today, he has to do his part to try to fight international terrorism and, with the best intentions, he sets out to hunt down Osama Bin Laden.

After training and inoculations in the United States, Spurlock heads to Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Palestine and Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and finally the Afghanistan/Pakistan border (it's a rather nebulous region and it is not entirely clear if Spurlock crosses into Pakistan). In each place, he asks people he meets if they know where Osama Bin Laden is and what their impression of the United States and the "War On Terror" is. In this fashion, he runs around the Middle East learning about different sects of Islam in various places and discovering that Osama Bin Laden is not hiding in plain sight.

Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? is the natural precursor to Bill Maher's documentary Religulous (reviewed here!) in many ways. Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? pokes around looking for a terrorist in places he clearly is not, but in the process begins to expose the motivations leading to terrorism. Just as watching a documentary like Fahrenheit 9/11 (reviewed here!) made it more difficult for those on the fence to support the Bush-Cheney Administration, this documentary forces the viewer to question who our allies in the world are. Spurlock's interviews in places like Morocco, Palestine, and Egypt tend to go far better than those in Israel and Saudi Arabia. Indeed, not from an apparent lack of trying, the only place Spurlock seems to find a "kill all the infidels" type mosque is in Saudi Arabia.

Elsewhere, Spurlock hunts for such reactionaries, but is largely unable to find them. The Palestinians he interviews are far more levelheaded and religiously open-minded than that. Indeed, the only places physical violence is committed on Spurlock and his camera crew are in the Jewish portions of Israel where the most conservative Jews start a mob and physically shove Spurlock, his camera crew, and local law enforcement just for Spurlock asking to talk to some of the people there. This is pretty extraordinary when one considers all Spurlock is doing is asking to talk and the veiled and unveiled women in the malls of predominantly Muslim countries either ignored Spurlock and his crew or actually spoke with him. Similarly, if communication is the way to try to understand people, even the extreme Islamic agitators make a better showing by sitting down and talking with Spurlock and letting their hate-rhetoric get out there. I'm not advocating hate speech at all, but I am commending both the Islamic Extremists (I'm no longer calling them "fundamentalists" because if nothing else, Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? clearly debunks the religious - from the text - arguments that Islam is fundamentally violent or dangerous) and Spurlock for talking to one another and airing what was said as opposed to censoring it.

Spurlock's sense of humor throughout the movie keeps it flowing well, though there is whole video game motif that passes through the entire film as Spurlock travels from place to place and opens the movie with a mock-fight between himself and Osama Bin Laden. This is amusing, but does not further the goals or purpose of the movie. Similarly, Spurlock makes assertions about the spread of terrorism in the world that are largely unsupported. He claims that in the past six years there has been a rise in terrorism unlike anything seen in the twenty years before that. I wonder if that actually includes places like Ireland and South Africa because in both of those places (and others) there have been organized resistance and terrorism movements that were very active in the years Spurlock claims were not as violent as the world is now.

Spurlock also makes some assertions that would have been real nice to see backed up with video footage. There is an amusing cartoon of dictators in the world that the U.S. helped establish or prop up in our quest to stop the spread of Communism. Some of those dictators, like Saddam Hussein, are captured on camera with important Americans - like Hussein and Donald Rumsfeld. Not including that sort of thing weakens the movie some.

But what Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? does remarkably well is what most liberals have been preaching for years; the movie illustrates that people are just people, parents tend to have the same, universal goals for their children and - far more than religious - the conflicts in the world are based on skewed interpretations of religion appealing to political and economic radicals or reactionaries to meet an agenda that is not based on faith. Spurlock wisely gives all sorts of people the chance to speak and the unfortunate aspect of the documentary is that for all the hype and what is good about it, it does not focus so much on finding Bin Laden as it does trying to understand where he came from and what made him into the man he became.

Still, it's better than watching one of Bin Laden's videos and this documentary, for all of the humor (the CG Bin Laden dancing to "U Can't Touch This" is absolutely hilarious), does achieve a goal which is to lay a bedrock for opening a dialogue between the different parties. Too bad this movie didn't do so well in the theaters to get that dialogue going quicker.

For other documentaries, please check out my reviews of:
Oceans
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cream Will Rise

5.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Adequately Explores Marketing In Movies!

The Good: Moments of humor, Informative
The Bad: Very limited concept that is repetitively bludgeoned into viewers.
The Basics: Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold explores the problematic aspect of product placement in movies without actually punching at the key moments.


Right now, I am in the process of following up my Best Picture Project (that's here!) with reviews of documentaries. So, while visiting family out of town, when I had the opportunity to watch Morgan Spurlock's new documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, I was actually pretty excited. I like a good documentary and Spurlock's certainly qualify. Moreover, there is a certain underdog quality to Spurlock's exposes and learning that The Greatest Movie Ever Sold only recouped about a third of its budget made me a little sad.

Part of the reason for feeling disappointed is that I liked The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, despite feeling like Spurlock made his point exceptionally early in the film and the feeling that he squandered some real opportunities for hard-hitting journalism. Actually, long after I felt Spurlock made his point, I was annoyed to actually see him interview someone I hoped he might hold accountable (more than that later) and was unpleasantly surprised when he let him go. C'est la vie.

Morgan Spurlock is tired of seeing advertisements everywhere, but especially in movies and on television. Product placement in movies and television has been rising in the last few years and so Spurlock seeks to explore just what kind of movie he can make with corporate sponsorship exposing corporate sponsorship in movies. He approaches the big name corporations, but it is Ban, JetBlue, Sheetz, GMC and Pom Wonderful that actually invests in making his documentary in exchange for prominent product placement.

And that's it. Spurlock figures the film's budget at $1.5 million and he finds the sponsors needed to make the documentary and with that money - other than creating an advertisement for POM Wonderful, JetBlue and Hair & Mane shampoo - is interview prominent directors of the day on their feelings about product placement in movies.

It is in interacting with directors that Spurlock pulls his punches. After getting a truly inspired story out of Quentin Tarantino, Spurlock lets J.J. Abrams off the mat. J.J. Abrams managed to do in the first twenty minutes of Star Trek (reviewed here!) what everyone associated with the franchise managed to avoid in the prior forty years of the franchise: sell out. When Abrams directed Star Trek, he prominently featured Nokia in the film and while that might be expected considering his show Alias got boku advertising dollars from the company, it was noticeably out of place in Trek. Spurlock included that clip from Star Trek and does not call Abrams on its use when he had the opportunity to interview him.

The result is a documentary DVD that has a serious lack of punch. Spurlock proves early enough in the movie that corporate sponsorship of movies is antithetical to artistic license, but then he does very little with the premise. Sure, we get a tour of Sao Paolo where billboards were outlawed, but there is less substance to why the advertisements in movies is a problem. After all, despite all of the rejections Spurlock gets for his concept, he finds corporate sponsorship to make his documentary.

Ultimately, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is entertaining, but after it makes its point early on, it does nothing significant with the idea that Spurlock is objecting to. Yes, art is getting its ass kicked in the war between art and commerce, but Spurlock just seems content to note that as opposed to make any daring sort of commentary on it or propose any radical solution to it. That makes for a less thrilling documentary than I would hope for, though it is entertaining and worth seeing.

For other documentaries, please check out my reviews of:
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cream Will Rise
Fahrenheit 9/11

5.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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