Most of us can’t recall a time when fast food joints were
not a part of our lives. We take for granted that they have always been there.
But there was a time when these places were nothing like what we know today.
Ask your grandparents and odds are they can tell you all about it. Or you could
just watch THE FOUNDER and learn how they all came about with McDonald’s as the
centerpiece.
Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc. As the film opens Kroc is
selling multi-head milkshake machines as a salesman. He travels across country
with a machine in his trunk and goes to different restaurants and drive-ins
(restaurant not theater style) to try and get them to purchase these. When he
learns of a restaurant in San Bernardino that wants to buy 6 he calls to make
sure they want that many only to learn they actually want 8. Curious, he drives
across country to see why.
What he finds is something he is amazed by. While most
drive-in restaurants are local joints that kids hang out at, prone to getting
your order wrong and taking up to 30 minutes to get that wrong order, this
place is taking care of customers in the time it takes them to make change for
your order. He tries the food, it’s great and he eventually meets one of the
owners, brother Mac McDonald (John Carroll Lynch). Mac tells him to finish
eating and he’ll show him how it works.
From there we get the story of how the assembly line system
put into place by the brother came to be with Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman)
coming up with the concept. Kroc is amazed at the simplicity of it as well as
how functional it is. The next day he returns to talk to the brothers with an
idea in mind: franchise! But he’s told they tried it once before and their
concept of quality control was tossed out with each owner, all resorting to adding
menu items, dirty kitchens and the same problems the standard drive-ins had.
Ray eventually convinces them to let him try. He builds his
first McDonald’s franchise store and things go great. He’s there to make sure
it’s done right and quality control remains intact. He then convinces several
wealthy friends to do the same. But as with the first time this was attempted,
they make changes. As with most things that happened to Kroc as seen in this
film it was moments of chance that continued to alter things.
Ray comes up with the idea of McDonald’s owners as family.
Rather than invite wealthy investors into opening stores he contacts couples,
low income people with the dream of something better just like he had. The end
result is it working. The franchises begin to sell and the company begins to
grow. And that’s where things begin to change once again.
The goals of Ray Kroc and Dick & Mac McDonald were
completely different. While they came up with the concept and were concerned
with a quality product and system Kroc saw the potential for this to become the
golden goose for his prosperity. He wants to include the brothers in this but
they butt heads non-stop, never giving the okay to any changes he wants to
made, their prerogative according to their contract with Ray. This eventually
leads to a standoff between the two sides. Depending on your point of view
either could be considered the good guy or the villain here.
What makes this movie so enjoyable is just that, the ability
to tell the stories of both the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc as well as the
history of McDonalds while not taking sides. Both have great ideas, both have
something to offer but they also have issues that come into the mix that make
things result in a terrible confrontation. Most know who won but the journey to
discover that is entertaining and informative.
The production values here are tremendous. The look and feel
of the time is captured with flair and seeming ease. The photography helps to
set the mood without taking center stage. And the performances are amazing from
the three main leads, Keaton, Lynch and Offerman. The supporting cast also turn
in fine performances as well.
I watched this because I was curious to see what it was all
about and I’m glad I did. The end result was a movie that never made me want to
reach for the remote to fast forward. My guess is that most will enjoy this
film as well.
On a side note one thing I found funny among the miniscule
extras here. At least one performer takes a shot at capitalism and discusses
how this film shows the terrible things that come from it. I found it humorous
to hear those words from someone with a net worth of $12 million. But then
perhaps that’s just me.
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