“Fast Food Nation”
* * This uneven adaptation takes on many of the issues from Eric Schlosser’s best-selling nonfiction work of the same name. Director Richard Linklater creates some memorable scenes and characters, as Greg Kinnear tries to research why his burger company’s meat is showing up contaminated. We also see the plight of Mexican immigrants hired to work at low wages and high rates of injury at a Colorado meatpacking plant. But Linklater too often loses the thread of the narrative in side issues, including animal rights arguments and cheap swipes against Republican political policies. In the end, there’s simply too much wide-ranging material in Schlosser’s expose to make one coherent feature film.| R|106 minutes|Released today|Michael Booth
“Confetti”
* * Anyone who has cringed while watching the home movies of newlyweds bumbling through their own corny, personalized nuptials will appreciate the comic potential of the British mock documentary “Confetti.” The title is also the name of the movie’s fictional bridal magazine, whose editors dream up a contest in which three couples compete to win an award for most original wedding concept. Improvised by a moderately clever cast of British television regulars, “Confetti” is obviously inspired by Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show.” But as you watch this pallid British imitation, you long for the American crew’s X-ray vision. The biggest letdown is the contest itself: a three-ring circus that is not nearly exaggerated enough to explode into comic madness and is undermined by a lurking sentimentality.|R|94 minutes|Released today|Stephen Holden, The New York Times
“Stranger Than Fiction”
* * * * Not since “Groundhog Day” has a tickler been so metaphysically engaging while being just as entertaining. And though this tale about Harold Crick, an IRS auditor (played by “SNL” alum Will Ferrell) who discovers that he’s a character in a novel and is soon to die it achieves its generous moral with nary a smirk and maybe even a few tears. Emma Thompson is marvelously tormented as author Karen Eiffel, who can’t figure out how to kill off her protagonist. When Harold locates her, her dilemma becomes profound. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays bakery owner Ana Pascal, the subject of Harold’s audit and affections.|PG-13|113 minutes|Released today|Lisa Kennedy
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