The last time the
film world got a taste of McDonald’s fast food chain came in the form of Morgan
Spurlock’s gross out “documentary” Super
Size Me where the filmmaker set out to eat McDonald’s for thirty days
straight with the aim of warding consumers off of the food forever. While that picture painted the corporation in
a less than flattering light, Saving Mr.
Banks director John Lee Hancock with his new film The Founder aims to reverse that unfriendly public perception of
the fast food chain while illustrating the behind-the-scenes drama of
struggling salesman turned ruthless mogul Ray Kroc.
Something of a schmaltzy
subliminal advert for the family image that is McDonald’s, the power of
suggestion rings very loud in the film’s ability to make you want to buy a McDouble
after the film is over. Unlike the murky
motivations behind Saving Mr. Banks to
whitewash the history behind the Disney image, The Founder allows Keaton’s Kroc to ascend in power while decidedly
descending in integrity. More than
anything, The Founder like There Will Be Blood chronicles the
subject’s rise from little man to tyrant and the most miraculous thing about it
is how it refrains from tarnishing the McDonald’s image while frowning on the
man who turned it into a household name.
The Founder could well have been corporatist hagiography
were it not for The Wrestler screenwriter
Robert D. Siegel’s treatment of the proceedings and Michael Keaton’s
charismatic performance in the role of Kroc that will surely garner the actor
another Oscar nomination. While the film
does dip into the recipes somewhat, The
Founder is mostly about how Ray Kroc over the course of the picture manages
to wrestle away executive control over the franchise from the men who started
it in the first place, Maurice “Mac” McDonald (John Carroll Lynch) and Richard “Dick”
McDonald (Nick Offerman). Everyone gives
stellar performances, including veteran actress Laura Dern as Kroc’s thankless
unambitious wife, Patrick Wilson as one of the franchise owners and Linda
Cardellini as the woman key to propelling McDonald’s to greatness.
Hancock’s direction is textbook and Coen Brothers’ longtime composer Carter Burwell’s score is somewhat underwhelming, but Keaton’s performance is so captivating aided by a solid script by Siegel that The Founder which could have been a dry procedural instead becomes a compelling rags-to-riches tale while condemning the ruthless and unscrupulous methods taken to reach the summit of success. Whatever your views on McDonald’s and the impact fast food has on our national health in general won’t change after seeing The Founder. What it does manage to do however is shine a spotlight on how frequent successes are achieved by riding on the backs of others and how some of the best commercial ideas in our nation aren’t so much devised as they are stolen.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki