Directed by:
John Lee HancockScreenplay:
Robert SiegelCinematography:
John SchwartzmanComposer:
Carter BurwellCast:
Michael Keaton, Laura Dern, Linda Cardellini, Nick Offerman, Patrick Wilson, B.J. Novak, John Carroll Lynch, Griff Furst, Steve Coulter, Cara Mantella (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Drama that tells the true story of how Ray Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food at their San Bernardino hamburger stand and the crowds of patrons it attracted, Kroc immediately saw franchise potential and maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire. And thus McDonald’s was born. (Roadshow Entertainment)
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Reviews (6)
Though The Founder has informational value as we learned how things happened, it’s unsurprising and unremarkable from the filmmaking point of view, even in the 4:3 aspect ratio; it’s something you watch on TV after a Sunday lunch. At least Hitchcock was about Hitchcock and jOBS about Jobs, whose fame merited a movie (I’m mentioning these two because they are also lesser movies, equally uninteresting in the filmmaking respect). Ray Kroc’s story is a dime -a-dozen tale of a successful businessman who conned two of his partners, destroyed the third one’s marriage and became a king. In the climax, the movie makes him show some remorse, but still unambiguously glorifies him as the winner of his era. The creators don’t even touch upon the quality of what his chain is feeding people, especially children. Michael Keaton is alright, he fits the role perfectly, but even a lesser known actor would have sufficed.
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A fantastic biographical film about a brand that nearly everyone on our blue planet knows! No, seriously, I personally didn’t know much about the history of McDonald’s; I could probably provide no more information than the number of fingers on one hand (actually, even less =D). At first, I enjoyed Michael Keaton’s character and his actions, as he expanded the brand across America and then embarked on a "crusade" into the world. But as he became a bigger media celebrity, his ego grew, and he turned into a businessman solely focused on profit, with little regard for those around him. The saddest fact is undoubtedly how the real creators of "McDonald’s," the McDonald brothers, ended up. In the end, Kroc outmaneuvered them in their mutual agreement, leaving them with only financial compensation and the obligation to remove anything mentioning McDonald’s from the name of their original and first store of the famous brand. Otherwise, the film is very credible, capturing the 1950s era perfectly. Keaton’s performance is unmatched, and the McDonald brothers were convincingly portrayed. A realistic depiction of events as they happened. I give it 85%.
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Great biopic about the creation of the powerful McDonald's franchise. Michael Keaton is excellent in his role, occasionally funny, and I really enjoyed watching how the story unfolds. A bit like The Social Network, with Facebook replaced by McDonald's. Interesting, educational, entertaining, and occasionally thrilling. Definitely a solid biopic. 8/10.
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Today we finished the story of how it all began with a McDonald’s (a promo McBus came to town with real meat in their burgers). Keaton is excellent, but John Lee Hancock brings no surprises in terms of cinema. The main problem is the ordinariness of the whole story. If the brand wasn’t so popular, almost certainly no movie would have been made. But there’s no controversy, but nevertheless a good watch.
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I would never have thought that the story of the McDonald brothers would be so interesting. Unfortunately, interesting rather in the negative sense of the word. I would sum it up by saying that the movie The Founder presents one ot the most unorthodox stories of a brand that became a worldwide phenomenon. I don’t know whether this is standard in the world of business, but this movie represents a model example of how business is done. Michael Keaton is absolutely incredible in this film and believe you me that even if you don’t like hamburgers from the Golden Arches, you will feel sorry for the McDonald brothers anyways. That’s how strong this movie is.
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