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| Michael Keaton stars in The Founder |
Crosses, Flags, Arches
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Directed by John Lee Hancock (SAVING MR. BANKS), THE FOUNDER features the true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a struggling salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers' speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. Writer Robert Siegel (THE WRESTLER) details how Kroc maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire. The film also stars Laura Dern as Ray Kroc's first wife Ethel; John Carroll Lynch as Mac McDonald and Nick Offerman as Dick McDonald.
"Are you familiar with the concept of the chicken and the egg?" Ray Kroc (certainly) was, and his remarkable story delights/unfolds in Hancock's The Founder. Keaton is absolutely terrific, channeling Kroc's ambition, determination and guile against a nostalgic 1950s/60s setting. Even better? The development of the fast food concept, and the battle between the core beliefs of the McDonald brothers and "crass commercialism." Is it "better to have one great restaurant, than 50 mediocre ones?" One could argue for/against both sides. As for Kroc? "Why settle, when other men won't?" One of the best biopics in years.
Grade: B+
