The Founder. (12A.)
Directed by John Lee Hancock.
Starring Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, Laura Dern and B.J. Novak. 115 mins
This is not the story of the men that founded MacDonalds fast food; it’s the story of the man who made it a chain. It's the exploiter's tale; not the creator's. When travelling salesman Ray Kroc (Keaton) turns up at the MacDonald restaurant in San Bernadino in 1954 and introduces himself to the two MacDonald brothers, Dick (Offerman) and Mac (Lynch), the creators of Speedee Service, you know it will end badly. That's obvious, if they got on swimmingly there'd be no movie. Plus, being a product of Hollywood (that undrained swamp of elitist liberalism) we know that we are going to get a lecture on the evils of capitalism. What you don't expect is how sly this sledgehammer will be. Its knives are out for Kroc, but it waits for him to gradually reverse into them, rather than hastily shoving them in his back.
At the start of the film we are swept up in their enthusiasm. These are three resourceful men with vision and ambition and you are willing them on. They have suffered failure and set backs, but they have taken risks and gotten back on top. The brothers' inventiveness and attention to detail, “The fries are 5% too crisp,” and Kroc's restless drive are admirable. We know that these men are forging a demon engine that will strike at the root of our civilisation and become a synonym for evil corporatism and crap food in small portions (Big Macs! I've been to countries with currency bigger than that) but their sense of excitement is such that when it all goes sour, you really feel the betrayal.
It's a fascinating story but normally the kind that is best served in a documentary. Usually around Oscar time two or three of these types of true story films pop up, and most times they have no business being films. Hancock's film though is surprisingly cinematic. I don't know if the story of the brothers spending a six hours working out the mechanics of making fast food over a chalked outline of their kitchen done on a tennis court is true or not, but it is an inspired bit of screenwriting. The script, by Robert D Siegel, is great all round. (Apparently The Coens were interested in it at one time.) When the brothers outline their story over dinner with Ray it is gripping, in the way stories about business just shouldn't be. (That's also down to the quality of the cast, particularly the three lead roles.) And it looks good. The iconography of the original MacDonalds outlets, those golden arches incorporated with the traditional American drive in restaurants are just beautiful, like Drive Thru Monument Valleys.
The Founder is the perfect Oscar movie except for two things: it has been completely shunned in the nominations and actually has an original perspective on its subject. It makes you realise that all the Evil Corps that surround us were all founded in the giddy optimism and resourceful thrill of entrepreneurship.
Directed by John Lee Hancock.
Starring Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, Laura Dern and B.J. Novak. 115 mins
This is not the story of the men that founded MacDonalds fast food; it’s the story of the man who made it a chain. It's the exploiter's tale; not the creator's. When travelling salesman Ray Kroc (Keaton) turns up at the MacDonald restaurant in San Bernadino in 1954 and introduces himself to the two MacDonald brothers, Dick (Offerman) and Mac (Lynch), the creators of Speedee Service, you know it will end badly. That's obvious, if they got on swimmingly there'd be no movie. Plus, being a product of Hollywood (that undrained swamp of elitist liberalism) we know that we are going to get a lecture on the evils of capitalism. What you don't expect is how sly this sledgehammer will be. Its knives are out for Kroc, but it waits for him to gradually reverse into them, rather than hastily shoving them in his back.
At the start of the film we are swept up in their enthusiasm. These are three resourceful men with vision and ambition and you are willing them on. They have suffered failure and set backs, but they have taken risks and gotten back on top. The brothers' inventiveness and attention to detail, “The fries are 5% too crisp,” and Kroc's restless drive are admirable. We know that these men are forging a demon engine that will strike at the root of our civilisation and become a synonym for evil corporatism and crap food in small portions (Big Macs! I've been to countries with currency bigger than that) but their sense of excitement is such that when it all goes sour, you really feel the betrayal.
It's a fascinating story but normally the kind that is best served in a documentary. Usually around Oscar time two or three of these types of true story films pop up, and most times they have no business being films. Hancock's film though is surprisingly cinematic. I don't know if the story of the brothers spending a six hours working out the mechanics of making fast food over a chalked outline of their kitchen done on a tennis court is true or not, but it is an inspired bit of screenwriting. The script, by Robert D Siegel, is great all round. (Apparently The Coens were interested in it at one time.) When the brothers outline their story over dinner with Ray it is gripping, in the way stories about business just shouldn't be. (That's also down to the quality of the cast, particularly the three lead roles.) And it looks good. The iconography of the original MacDonalds outlets, those golden arches incorporated with the traditional American drive in restaurants are just beautiful, like Drive Thru Monument Valleys.
The Founder is the perfect Oscar movie except for two things: it has been completely shunned in the nominations and actually has an original perspective on its subject. It makes you realise that all the Evil Corps that surround us were all founded in the giddy optimism and resourceful thrill of entrepreneurship.
