Like our new president, Ray Kroc is a force of business.
The Founder
Grade: B
Director: John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks)
Screenplay: Robert D. Siegel (The Wrestler)
Cast: Michael Keaton (Spotlight), Nick Offerman (Danny Collins)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 55 min
by John DeSando
“Business is war.” Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton)
The ironic title, which could mimic the bravado of our new president, effectively sets the spirit of this docudrama about the force behind the McDonald’s empire, Ray Kroc, played by Michael Keaton. Keaton will make you forget his narcissistic Birdman or long for that nutcase, benign by comparison.
Besides being informative about the development of the hamburger kingdom from the early ‘50’s, the film gives a full measure to the charismatic developer, whose charisma I matched by his ambition.
That passion to succeed, coupled with an uncanny insight into the needs of our fellow Americans, leads Kroc eventually to supersede the founders (John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman), who are depicted mainly as kind-hearted rubes with no idea of the gold hidden in the hum drum of daily eating.
When the McDonalds would rather not expand nationally, Kroc is there it goad them on: “You and your endless parade of nos, cowering in the face of progress.” He teaches them the “burger ballet” while he whirls them off stage left.
Sealing the eventual deal with only a handshake, the McDonald boys enter the world of commercialism and chicanery, only to lose out on untold millions as they are finessed by Kroc. Heck, who cares? Cause the star of this sanitized doc is Kroc, a perpetual motion entrepreneur who could show our new president a thing or two about the art of a deal.
Watching dynamos like Kroc and Trump confirms that while the little people like the McDonald boys will always be left behind, the kings are still eminently watchable. Michael Keaton certainly is.
“Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful men with talent,” Ray and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
