In his award-winning documentary Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock earned laughs by taking aim at an easy target: McDonald's. He brings that same snarky sensibility to his TV show 30 Days, which has been surprisingly well-received for its simplistic, cheap-shot approach to complex issues. Each of the six 2005 first season episodes collected here revolves around people yanked out of their normal environments and dropped into unfamiliar situations for one month. “Minimum Wage” finds Spurlock and fiancée Alex ditching their trendy New York lifestyle to take minimum-wage jobs in Columbus, Ohio. “Muslims and Americans” transplants a Christian from West Virginia into a Muslim community located in Dearborn, MI. “Straight/Gay” temporarily matches a conservative Christian homophobe with a gay roommate in San Francisco's Castro district. By deliberately placing people in lifestyles totally contrary to the subject's prior experiences, Spurlock ensures that the contrast will produce significant (if not radical) changes in attitude and behavior. It's a classic case of reality-show producers manipulating circumstances to get the desired effect, and the fact that it's done with a certain amount of panache can't conceal the show's fundamental disingenuousness. DVD extras include audio commentaries and bonus footage. Not recommended. (E. Hulse)
30 Days: Season 1
Fox, 2 discs, 270 min., not rated, DVD: $26.98 Volume 21, Issue 5
30 Days: Season 1
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