Few books are better suited for a documentary makeover than Eric Schlosser’s fact-packed blitz on the burger industry, Fast Food Nation.

So it’s a surprise that the author was against the idea. Perhaps he felt that SuperSize Me did an adequate job, but the decision to retool it as a work of fiction (with co-writer/director Linklater) considerably lessens its impact.

Coming from the mouths of actors, the revelations sound like hearsay, often delivered in a manner that is awkward, forced (yet another solid-oak performance from Kris Kristofferson) and – in the case of Kinnear’s absurdly naïve marketing guru Don – unlikely.

And in presenting his eco-sociopolitical message for mass consumption, Linklater treats us as though we’re all dazed and confused.

"There’s shit in the meat", says Don’s boss. "There’s shit in the meat", Don tells his wife before heading to Colorado to check out the cattle ranch and meat packing plant that supply burgers to his company, Mickey’s (as in Macky-D’s, geddit?).

"There’s shit in the meat" grins macho meat trader Bruce Willis. "Tell him there’s shit in the meat", urges rancher Kristofferson to his housekeeper. "There’s shit in the meat", she confirms. Got that?

But where Don is given a sanitised tour of the plant, immigrant Mexican workers like Sylvia (Moreno, an Oscar nominee for Maria Full of Grace) and her husband are exposed to the whole grisly, gristly business.

Having crossed the border illegally with Sylvia’s sister, they are at the mercy of their trafficker (Guzman) and predatory shift foreman (Bobby Cannavale). Metaphor fans may note that they are treated like meat.

Elsewhere, chirpy Mickey’s employee Amber (Ashley Johnson) has her eyes opened to the injustice and exploitation by her burger-dropping colleagues and her liberal uncle (Ethan Hawke).

It’s enough to make her form the Bovine Liberation Front (though schoolmate Avril Lavigne’s whinging alone would drive anyone to anarchy).

While Linklater and Schlosser’s approach is obvious, it’s also ambitious and – to anyone who hasn’t read the book – undoubtedly effective. If junk food is bad for you, it’s even worse for others.

Graphic shots of guts and gore make their point, yet the most affecting scene involves a company HR representative’s pathetic response to a crippling accident.

Happy meals never looked so sad.

Elliott Noble