Corporate drone Sid Straw (Tony Hale) seems to be vying for the title “cringiest doofus in America,” with his awkward jokes and lack of awareness about other people’s boundaries and sensitivities. It has also somehow never occurred to Sid to engage in social media, which is probably just as well given his penchant for embarrassing others and stirring their wrath. But when he volunteers to help organize a reunion of his college graduation class, a Facebook account becomes inevitable.
So, too, is a perilous path to infamy and legal problems when Sid remembers that among his classmates was Elizabeth Banks—yes, that Elizabeth Banks; the famous actress. Sid discovers that Banks (who does not physically appear in this film) has her own Facebook page, and he does not realize that when he posts dozens of notes to her, millions of other people can see them. He ends each communication with the admonition “Eat Wheaties!," a vague reference to something Banks apparently said during their school days. Soon, Sid is being sued by Banks’ representatives for being a stalker. He loses his job, and finds that many small-minded people feel the right to treat him like a pariah.
Loosely based on a 2003 novel called The Locklear Letters (in the book, Heather Locklear was the original target of Sid’s writings), Eat Wheaties! is a dark comedy about the trials of a boy-man who has to reexamine his assumptions about what it means to be an adult and fight for authenticity. Lead actor Hale is so good in the part of an unintentional creep that a viewer wants to hide anytime Sid is on screen. If you’re a fan of Mike Judge’s cult classic Office Space, chances are you’ll enjoy Eat Wheaties!. Strongly recommended. Three stars.