[yasr_overall_rating]
The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers’ fast food eatery, McDonald’s, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, “The Founder” depicts the true story of how the McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac, parlayed their small town skills into a successful business in the 1950s. The billion-dollar empire that the world knows today as McDonald’s, has an amazing history that I was totally oblivious of, until now. Who would have thought that the selfless baby-faced billionaire whose family has given billions of dollars to the Salvation Army, was the same person who ruthlessly took the whole idea of McDonald’s franchising into unchartered, scrupulous territory?
The story centers around the two brothers, Dick (Nick Offerman) and Mac (John Carroll Lynch), who put aside their personal issues with one another to carve a niche in society, and to find a simple way to provide a decent meal to Southern California citizens of a town that needed something to do with itself. At the same, Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) was in Illinois, peddling all types of products that simply were not appealing to his audience. In the midst of his boredom and disappointment throughout his travels, he stumbled across these brothers who had a great plan but not enough expertise and gall to realize its boundless potential. The deal that he initially made with the brothers was hard fought and even he underestimated his percentage in the deal that literally backfired in his own face and left him on a fast track to being penniless. Not to be outdone, he regrouped by listening to an investor who literally changed his perspective and his pockets forever. The regrouping, however, caused him to have major conflict with the brothers who wanted to play it safe and keep the brand and their reputations wholesome. The results, of course, divided them and in the end, Ray Kroc literally took the business right from under their feet.
The excellent casting of roles in this film was totally essential to its success. Michael Keaton played one hell of a role as Ray Kroc, and Laura Dern as his wife, Ethel Kroc, whose facial expressions that everyone could relate to, made for hearty laughs throughout the film. John Carroll Lynch (Mac McDonald) and Nick Offerman (Dick McDonald), were outstanding as naïve businessmen who knew more about each other’s individual faults then theirs together, as business partners. This 115 Minutes of McDonalds’ history is education for humanity at every level. The good, the bad, and the ugly can only serve to gain a greater respect for the Golden Arches and those who gave their all to hold up the principles for which they were founded.
In theaters Friday, January 20th
