A Place at the Table Blu-ray review

Actors: Jeff Bridges

Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Closed-captioned, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 25, 2013

Run Time: 84 minutes

 

 

        If you have ever shopped at Food For Less or any of the other discount grocery stores and wondered why all of the unhealthiest foods are also the cheapest, this documentary will provide the answers. A Place at the Table gives a precise amount of information in explaining why America has so many people without food, despite being a country with plenty of it. This doesn’t sound like light entertainment, but the human element makes this an engaging documentary.

 

There is a major difference between hunger in third world countries and the poverty experienced in America, because some of the most impoverished are also becoming some of the most obese. This is due to the type of food which is made affordable, mostly due to the government’s choice to subsidize larger farms providing crops that will lead to processed food rather than fresh.

 

As well as the bigger political picture behind our country’s hunger issues, there are also more intimate human stories within the narrative. We are brought into the seemingly average and ordinary homes of families struggling to put food on the table each week, often utilizing the help and charity of local organizations or government just to survive. In one of the more harrowing sequences, a single mother realizes that she is no better off financially once finding a job and losing the government aid. The loss of one is not overpowered by the gain of the other, and she finds that the stress of existing week to week is never-ending.

 

Documentaries have become a great podium for a call to change, allowing the voice of the public to be heard as well as providing information to those who are unaware. Unfortunately, there are so many of these agenda-based documentaries in existence that it is hard to believe much difference will come from one film. All cynicism aside, A Place at the Table provides a concise and entertaining presentation of some very real problems in the United States.

 

The Blu-ray release includes deleted scenes and interviews, as well as a commentary track with directors Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson, as well as producer Tom Colicchio. There are also some cast and crew interviews and a few additional featurettes about organizations attempting to help the problem.

 

Entertainment Value: 7/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 7/10

Historical Significance: 5/10

Disc Features: 7.5/10