Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Founder’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Often times, when we head out to eat at a particular establishment, we give little thought to how exactly that company or chain came to be, and all the work that went into creating it… and with good reason. After all, we are in this for the meal and nothing more. But sometimes, if we love the place and all they offer, curiosity revolving around the genesis of our new favorite eatery is piqued and we search out more information.
 
Once our search for knowledge begins, the kind of story that presents itself to us can either be as vanilla as it comes, or downright fascinating, but we pay attention none the less because regardless of how ownership got there, they dedicated many hours of blood, sweat and tears to see their business come to life and while these stories usually speak to ingenuity and the power of hard work, like anything in life…there is a dark side and from time to time, some businesses find their way to success in the most cutthroat way imaginable and recently, I stumbled upon a motion picture that chronicled that darker rise to power in The Founder.
 
Now this movie simply put, tells the tale of how McDonald’s came to be the national and international force that it is today and how Founder Ray Kroc guided the franchise to unparalleled success. Which, quite frankly, sounds like quite the uplifting story. After all, McDonald’s is about as American as it gets and it’s a company whose product, specifically the Happy Meal, is something many of us enjoyed growing up and heck…even the trailers for this film seemed to advertise a focus on the conflict and struggles that come with creating a business so imagine my surprise when I came to discover all the dark things that this film had to offer.

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For starters, let’s talk about that uglier side of business that I made mention of earlier because holy cow… does this film feature some ruthless business practices, all of them exhibited by the film’s main character, the founder in question…Ray Kroc. Ray is a man desperate to be a part of something special and socially relevant in his life and he will do anything and everything to achieve that and his actions to wrest ownership and power away from the brothers who actually started the business is downright heartbreaking because Ray is only focused on his vision and the opportunity to build something massive and anyone who stands in his way when it comes to that, will pay the price dearly.
 
But all of the ugly that Ray brings forth in this story, is nothing compared to the sheer tragedy it portrays and the philosophical places that it goes as well. Because this motion picture focuses heavily on America’s love affair with Americana and how being as American as apple pie matters more than anything else, and well, I loved the fact that this film delivered a realistic and angry twist to that notion. Because in many ways, before McDonald’s, Ray was a man who was left behind by this concept and therein lies the tragedy. By not getting his share of the American Dream, he schemes it to his own liking and despite the success he enjoys because of this…the audience is left feeling a touch uncomfortable with how the man got everything he wanted because let’s be honest…Ray cheated his way to success.
 
However, despite the dreary (albeit genius) road this film takes, there is a lot to like about this movie simply because of casting choices that went into it. Michael Keaton is completely and utterly brilliant as Ray Kroc and his subdued and powerful performance allows for us to enjoy a complete journey when it comes to this story since we watch Ray go from a failed salesman without an ounce of confidence… to CEO of a major corporation with nothing but self-satisfaction flowing through his veins. It’s a poignant story, one that gives you pause when it comes its twisted portrayal of the American Dream and it’s a motion picture that you need to see as soon as possible, if by chance you missed it.  

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