is it really that great to work in a burger joint?

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2000)

#2 movie of all-time on this database? That's a bit hard to swallow.
Yes, this movie is quite good. But it is also quite flawed. The central message of this movie seems to be that one need not be afraid of anything. There's also some overtones to suggest that irresponsibility can be more than an amusing tangential for a middle-aged man, but that it can be a reasonable goal for this person. Lester is portrayed as a hero for blackmailing his boss, threatening his wife, ignoring his daughter, smoking dope, and generally fighting back against his feelings of powerlessness. Yes, it's great to fight back against a feeling of powerlessness, but Lester's solution rings false. The answer to the problems of adult life is not to behave like a 16-year old, up to and including the job at the local burger joint.
The movie could have been interesting had Lester been forced to get his way out of the messes he was developing. But instead, he's just killed off. (This is no spoiler, you learn this in the first minute of the film.)
This might sound moralistic, but that's not really my intention. Lester has problems and he's not dealing with them at all. He's regressing. The really interesting movie would be how he adjusted himself to fit back into society.