DOCUMENTARY film-maker Morgan Spurlock has made the film that his contemporary Michael Moore would, for obvious reasons, never have contemplated, even though it's a scorchingly hot topic stateside - the current soaring size of Americans.

Since Moore is, not to beat around the bush, a very large man, it would be a little strange to see him exposing the folly of the 60 per cent of American adults who are obese

So instead we have the very amiable and non-preachy Spurlock (pictured above), who comes complete with the ideal vegan chef girlfriend and high level of fitness for this task.

As a reaction to the lawsuit brought by two teenage girls in the US against McDonald's, and two court documents which said that the girls needed to prove that McDonald's meant them to eat there for every meal, every day, Spurlock decided to take up just that challenge for one month.

He ate only McDonald's food, three meals per day, eating everything on the menu at least once. And one of his rules was he had to "super-size" his food when asked.

The gimmick of this is obvious, but Super-Size Me evolves into a serious slice of cultural commentary thanks to its own awareness that it's just not about having a bash at American giants McDonald's.

Acknowledging that he selected the company because it is the biggest by far, and owns four restaurants per square mile in his hometown of New York, Spurlock also brings school meals, physical education provision, advertising and poor public knowledge into the complex equation in a compelling presentation. There are interviews with both bigwigs and normal people, all of which run in accompaniment to the "McSweats" and "McGas" Spurlock endures as his quest becomes ever more precarious to his health.

It's terrific, thought-provoking stuff. If you're not laughing at the man who has eaten 19,000 Big Macs, you're being "grossed out" by the amount of sugar in burgers and the size of American portions.

I may never eat a "McFrankenstein" nugget again. But my heart will thank me for it!