“Everything is food, food, food.” The surly denizens of a local Sweethaven watering hole share a shanty written around this koan, their philosophy growing muddier the more they sing. Rousing, the ditty is the stuff of solidarity, catchy and in a register that goes down without much trouble. “Everything is meat, meat, meat,” an old timer suggests, “Careful what you put on your feet.” Melancholy and at a table alone, Popeye (Robin Williams) quietly absorbs the religion of the new town he’s just sailed into: Everything is consumable; all is content. I am food and you are food. Devour me. But only when you listen to Harry Nilsson’s demos for Robert Altman’s Popeye soundtrack do you realize that “Everything Is Food” is not meant to demonstrate environmental stewardship, but just introduce the degenerate appetite of local teardrop-shaped mooch J. Wellington Wimpy (Paul Dooley), known for begging for sustenance with a lame promise -- “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” -- and otherwise stealing food and/or telepathic babies. If everything is food, then Wimpy will take anything. Gladly, desperately, his hunger grows, for he will never know peace in this world without limits.
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