There are plenty of movies about chefs, but what about fry cooks? It feels like not often enough do we get a movie tied directly to fast food.
Looking for some great fast-food centric movies? Check out these eight, and obviously, make sure you’ve got a burger in your hand when you do.
1. ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ (1982)
There are a lot of memorable moments in the beloved 80s classic, but the scene where Judge Reinhold — with his weird ogre voice — as Brad Hamilton gets fired from his fast-food job at All-American Burger is up there. Really makes you long for the days when a fast-food breakfast only cost $2.75
The best part? Nicolas Cage plays one of Rheingold’s coworkers working in the kitchen behind him. It was Cage’s film debut.
Related: Beloved ’80s Movies That Critics Hated
2. ‘Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle’ (2004)
There are few movies where a specific real-life chain is as central to the plot as “Harold and Kumar.” The movie follows a series of misadventures as our heroes attempt to get White Castle and stave off the munchies, and if you ask me, it helped relaunch the career of Neil Patrick Harris.
Related: 33 Things You Didn’t Know About White Castle
3. ‘Coming to America’ (1988)
Eddie Murphy famously works at a McDonald’s knockoff called McDowell’s in “Coming to America,” and the cultural impact has been so significant that there have even been McDowell’s pop-ups in real life. I would actually love to see how fast McDonald’s squashed somebody’s knockoff if this really happened, though it would probably end up being a Dumb Starbucks situation.
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4. ‘The Founder’ (2016)
Michael Keaton rarely misses. In “The Founder,” he plays Ray Kroc, the man who essentially forced the McDonald brothers out of their own company and created the global heavyweight that McDonald’s is today.
Related: 30 Best Restaurant Scenes In Classic Movies And TV Shows
5. ‘Good Burger’ (1997)
There was a time when I thought this was the funniest movie that had ever been made. Kenan and Kel were already the height of comedy around this time, so why wouldn’t their spinoff movie where they work at a fast-food chain be the same? This movie also gifts us a secondary fictional fast-food joint too, in the form of the rival chain across the street: Mondo Burger.
Related: Best Buddy Comedy Movies of All Time
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6. ‘Super Size Me’ (2004)
Morgan Spurlock’s infamous documentary was a very big deal when it first debuted. In it, he eats McDonalds and only McDonald’s for 30 straight days. Guess what? He nearly dies. Big shock, right?
The only thing that makes this movie better is that when paired with stoner comedian Doug Benson’s Movie “Super High Me” (in which Benson abstains from cannabis for a month, and then gets high every day for 30 days), we have unequivocal proof that weed is better for you than McDonald’s.
7. ‘Clerks II’ (2006)
When the Quick Stop burns down, the clerks head to fictional fast food spot “Mooby’s” for a sequel that came 12 years after the original. Regardless how you feel about Kevin Smith, the most interesting part of this movie is easily the feud between Smith and critic Joel Siegel, who stormed out of the screening.
Related: The Worst Movies Ever Made, According to Critics
8. ‘Drive Thru’ (2007)
I’ve never actually seen this movie, and I was prepared to write it off as a B movie not worth mentioning until I noticed the cast is made up of real actors that have actually been in things. Leighton Meester, Melora Hardin, Penn Badgely, and Nicholas D’Agosto star; even “Super Size Me” filmmaker Morgan Spurlock has a role. One big fast-food family.
Related: ‘These Go to 11’: Cult Classic Movies We Can’t Stop Watching
