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Reviews
Monumental: In Search of America's National Treasure (2012)
good for grade schoolers, remedial and dull for adults
First off, kudos to Kirk Cameron for speaking truth into the culture at its time of need. I was eager to see this, but waited long after its DVD release before getting around to view it. Unfortunately I found it largely a waste of time.
The film is Cameron's look into America's past to answer the crises that face America today. He finds the answers, but the journey is simply not that interesting. He goes to England, Holland, and Massachusetts to learn about the Pilgrims. There's not much new material here for anyone that knows much about the Pilgrims. There are a few anecdotes that are interesting, but the bulk of it is slow and plodding.
Cameron speaks with a few authorities on history and Christianity, but few are given much time to say anything of any real insight. If you're a Bible-believing, church-attending Christian, you should already know pretty much everything in this movie. If you don't, you need to find a new church.
The content is good, but it is grade-school material. This movie may be a good introduction to the Pilgrims and American history for an elementary-age child, but it is remedial for adults and simply put a waste of time for them.
I was greatly disappointed with this film. I would avoid this one. You're much better off reading a good book or going to bed early.
Fast Food Nation (2006)
bleak, disappointing, want my time back
Perhaps at the time this film came out it made news, but it is now merely a moralistic bore. Many writers have made hay of the beef industry and its hand maiden, fast food in recent years, so if you're paying attention, nothing in this film is really news.
Beyond that, it is a bleak picture of humanity, which isn't unfair, just incomplete. The story is slow, uncompelling, and boring. I nearly turned it off at a couple different points and regretted that I hadn't. The end was a nice little touch, but not worth the wait.
The characters themselves for the most part were very unengaging, cardboard-like, and simply uninteresting. The fact that this movie was based on a non-fiction book should ward off any potential viewer. I didn't heed the warning, and thus, I wish I had those two hours back. I would have been much better off reading a book about food than watching this movie.
Don't make my mistake--there are much better movies about food out there, this one is terrible.