'The Founder' - Movie Review

The FounderUA BiopicDirector John Lee Hancock Cast Michael Keaton John Carroll Lynch Nick Offerman Laura Dern Patrick Wilson BJ Novak Linda Cardellini John Lynch Griff Furst Justin Brooke Mathias AlvarezRatingA biopic that hopes to give the audience a deep insight into the lifeandtimes of the McDonaldrsquos founder has gotten most of itrsquos facts right but unfortunately it prefers to be conciliatory rather than aggressive in itrsquos approach to charting this unauthorized cinematic biographyScriptwriter Robert Siegel writes up a dramatized account of the true story of how Ray Kroc Michael Keaton a struggling salesman from Illinois met Mac John Carroll Lynch and Dick McDonald Nick Offerman who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California Impressed by the brothers and seeing franchise potential in their speedy system of making the food Kroc wrests control of the company from the brothers and creates a multibillion dollar empire of his own Finders keepers they say and thatrsquos what Ray Kroc did to the burger outlet with a hotselling ideaThere are ethical issues at play here and we can feel the steely dark side of the opportunist in Krocrsquos demeanor but the wholesome treatment by John Lee Hancock The Blind Side Saving Mr Banks does not allow for any edginess in the telling of itSiegels screenplay starts with Kroc the Chicagoreared son of Czech immigrants who at over 50 a salesman of sorts is down to the rubber trying to sell a five spindle multimixer to restaurant owners and managers in the Midwest till he comes across the burger joint and makes history en route to his many millionsKrocs secretary June Kate Kneeland alerts him to the requirement of eight mixers for the McDonald stand in Southern California and Kroc seeing an opportunity in that decides to do a personal delivery The brothers had reduced their menu to bestselling items and worked out homemade inventions to ready them as efficiently as possible Kroc fired up by their entrepreneurial genius decides to go for broke on the expansion of it ldquoBusiness is Warrdquo he states when the older brother refuses permission to add a powder based shake to the menuKeaton plays Kroc singularly driven by the urge to do more He may be a pathetic human being but make no mistake he is a vulture when it comes to business Itrsquos a vigorous performance aided by poignant turns from the rest of the cast included Laura Dern who plays his neglected wife But for the performances this film would have been just a little too wishywashy in its attempts to overlook the predator in the man