20th Anniversary TLDR: Super Size Me (2004)
I'm feeling a little McCrazy.
Plot: Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald’s fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.
Morgan Spurlock Thought #1: Morgan Spurlock was a much better filmmaker than a documentarian. The problem is he chose to make documentaries. Super Size Me is a fascinating, fun, creative movie...that also turned out to be a total crock of shit experiment because Spurlock left out the major detail that he also happened to be an alcoholic. That's kind of important information to disclose in a health study! If nobody else can replicate his results (which nobody can), that's also a red flag. But it's a good movie! It's very much a result of the Michael Moore School of Documentaries, but those are good movies too. It's funny, it's (relatively) informative, and it's well-made.
Morgan Spurlock Thought #2: I liked most of what else I saw from Spurlock. I watched just about every episode of the similarly conceived 30 Days tv show, tuned in live to his Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D! On Ice!, and even liked the cash-grab-title-but-actually-totally-different sequel, Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
Morgan Spurlock Thought #3: Because I get press releases now, I found out Morgan had passed away about five minutes before the embargo lifted for that news. That won't be the last time that happens, but it was the first and felt very weird. Obviously that news is for the trades and not websites like this, so I felt like somebody told me a secret that I didn't ask to hear. I didn't know what to do, so I texted my mom. Morgan seemed to have an up-and-down personal life, including outing himself during the Me Too movement, but 53 is way too young. Cancer sucks.
Best Moment: I love the Big Mac Guy, Don Gorske. That dude is still eating Big Macs. He hit 34,000 earlier this year. Makes you think.
Fun Fact: I had the CD Ronald Makes It Magic and listened to it a lot on my karaoke machine. Where did I get that? McDonald's?
Best McDonalds' Menu Item? McDouble.
Everything is too long! Is it too long? 98 minutes takes exactly two middle school health class periods.
Rating: Jared Fogle is a good guy in this movie.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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