Food, Inc.

There’s just something unpalatable about yet another documentary whose credits open with a slick barrage of info-graphics and close (over Bruce Springsteen singing “This Land Is Your Land,” no less) by telling you precisely how to live—and, of course, which Web sites to visit. It has a whiff of crass salesmanship, of assembly-line prefabrication, and that doesn’t help when the subject being documented is the gluttonous industrial ruination of American agriculture. As for journalistic integrity, well, one of the primary sources is also one of the producers, namely Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Thing is, Robert Kenner’s film still seems both timely and necessary, and maybe even more constructive than Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me and the Richard Linklater movie of Schlosser’s book put together. With The Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan also on hand, among other compelling characters, Food, Inc. does have real nutritional value.