The Founder (2016) Review

Based on a true story, The Founder is an intriguing film and a look into the giant fast-food corporation, Mcdonalds. One might assume that the man on the poster is the initial founder of Mcdonalds. But there’s a lot of business intricacies and politics at play before Ray Kroc took over and eventually established Mcdonald's corporation. Whether Ray Kroc is the bad guy or the good guy in this movie, it’s up to the viewers to decide. Whose side are you on? Without further adieu let me dive into it and share my reviews on it!

Ray Kroc was a milkshake machine salesman who felt that his job was a boring one. It was tedious up until he called his office and his secretary June, told him that there’s a restaurant, a drive-in, which orders 6 milkshake machines. Having to have reached out to drive-ins, he couldn’t believe how a place in San Bernardino California orders 6 milkshake machines. Ray eventually called the office and eventually talked to Dick, an owner of the place alongside his brother, Mac. The store was called Mcdonald and shortly after, Ray drove to the location. Alongside other patrons, he was amazed that the service was very quick and eventually, it was like a love at first sight. Long story short, Ray was invited to see how the operation works inside the Mcdolands and eventually, Ray invited Dick and Mac, the brothers who owned the business.

The brothers were talking a lot about how they got started with the business and revealed a little too much information about it. They were an open book and somehow, Ray saw an opportunity after a drive around a neighborhood and failed to sell his milkshake machine. He then proposed the idea to the Mcdonald’s brothers to open a franchise not for themselves but patriotically say, do it for America. The brothers have already had a concept and a building of a yellow arch surrounding it. Ray even said, “Mcdonalds could be the new American Church”. The brothers who didn’t want to open more locations weren't entirely convinced with the idea of more franchises especially in smaller towns. However, Ray persisted, just like the self-help audio that he listened to. Eventually, the brothers agreed to have a franchise and open more stores but with terms that basically still benefited the brothers. At one point, Ray wasn’t really satisfied with it because running the numbers, Ray was at loose. His life was almost falling apart as during the expansion, he put a mortgage on his house and the wife wasn’t pleased at all. With more and more stores opening and to make more money, Ray tried to find ways to pay the bank loan that was already due for three months. Harry Sonneborn who was overhearing the conversation that Ray had with the bank officer, just because he was a fan of Mcdonald’s. He advised Ray to open a realtor business. Ray Krocs ended up opening and owning the franchises land and all done without the brothers approval. As Ray climbed up the ladder, not only he made a new friend but also divorced the wife as Ray was smitten with another woman who came up with the best solution to a money-saving milkshake. Eventually, as Ray opens more business the Brothers lose control over Ray kroc. It was a turning point when Ray Kroc established Mcdonald corporation and The McDonald's Brothers were bought out and it changed the whole course of Mcdonald.

In my opinion, surprisingly for a movie that runs for 115 minutes, it felt like an eternity. The story was so packed that it was basically difficult to summarize the whole history of Mcdonald into a simple sentence. However, even when I can assume that the McDonald’s brother was ruggedly pulled, there were still problems beyond that. From the get go, the brothers though one had an ambition to go big, they didn’t really go through it whereas, Ray Kroc with a little bit of desperation, ambition and boredom from his salesman job, managed to persist and reached out to many people and risked his personal wealth to expand the business. Ray was an ambitious man and even in the movie, he hinted that the brothers didn’t even know that what makes Mcdonald special was its name. Not verbatim but he also mentioned, people wouldn’t buy from something that calls. “Kroc burger”. It was the name that was so valuable. The brothers, especially Dick were so adamant and strict about how his business should run. He was the type of businessman that would do business without taking too many risks. We certainly need a businessman who is honest and service minded like Dick but eventually, Ray was the one who claimed ownership of the business and put his name everywhere. The film was filled with interesting dialogue but also the actors who played Ray were really good. He makes me able to admire and hate him at the same time. His expression exudes greed and ambition and Michael Keaton does a really good job. It was the same with Nick Offerman who was playing as Dick. His voice is so iconic and his stern look really does the job to show that he was quite a stubborn character to change. Although again, I do not know why 115 minutes felt like an eternity.

From what I see, though it's a dramatization of what actually happened, I felt like all the characters in the movie portrayed them pretty well. Ray Kroc wasn’t really happy with just a middle class life with a few people from the club. He wanted something more and was just very thrilled to see a husband and wife worked together. It was something that Kroc was missing from the wife and eventually divorced the wife for another ambitious woman. I think that these romance added into it was just the extra sauce but it was definitely still intriguing that there was this aspect to it as well.

Overall though, after the wholesome-feel good Flamin Hot, the founder was a wake up call and full of nuggets to learn in order to grow a business and also own a business especially if it’s a unicorn one. I certainly recommend this movie and it’s 7 out of 10 in my book. Go watch it if you haven’t.