The Founder Review – Subtle but Powerful

<p>Art can make us judge our everyday decision making&comma; and this telling of Ray Kroc is one that will make you question whether or not McDonald’s is as family friendly as you once thought and if it’s a business you want to support in the future&period; At the same time&comma; <em>The Founder<&sol;em> is able to captivate with its snappy writing&comma; magnificent cinematography&comma; and spot on acting across the board&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;afbv8cy9jts<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Michael Keaton depicts cocky businessman Ray Kroc who is set on making McDonald’s a worldwide name despite the business not actually being his own company&period; Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch are the McDonald brothers who hire him on a limb and soon regret their decision&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The Founder<&sol;em> portrays a plot that is contesting two ideas&colon; rapid progress with processed foods vs&period; slow community-driven progress with traditional ingredients&period; The film shows both points of view rather than completely being biased towards one side&period; Whenever they conflict&comma; the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc&comma; there is high tension and these scenes successfully drive the film forward as it reaches the climax&period; The writing is punchy&comma; and there are lines that truly deliver and feel natural to each character of <em>The Founder<&sol;em>&period; However&comma; at points&comma; the movie with its fast pace feels too convenient&period; For example&comma; he finds a business partner all of a sudden &lpar;B&period;J Novak&rpar; who is at the bank exactly the same time as Kroc is suffering financially due to the constrictive contract he has with the McDonald brothers&period; It’s a miracle&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite the convenient plot points&comma; the actors perform phenomenally&period; Keaton shows the aggressive and impatient side of Kroc’s character in the film&comma; especially while he is calling Dick and Mac MacDonald about contract issues&period; While watching the movie&comma; Offerman and Carroll Lynch&comma; without crying or yelling&comma; quietly show their frustration and anger at Kroc as he is step by step taking over their business’ core beliefs and ownership&period; In one scene&comma; the brothers simply stand in front of their restaurant as their sign is taken down&comma; expressionless&period; This is far more effective than seeing their faces welling up in tears&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;117452" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-117452" style&equals;"width&colon; 1000px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-117452 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;01&sol;24164242&sol;The-Founder-1024x683&period;jpg" alt&equals;"&lpar;The Founder&comma; The Weinstein Company&rpar;" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"667" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-117452" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>The Founder<&sol;em>&comma; The Weinstein Company&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The film is also powerful in terms of Ray and his wife’s relationship or lack thereof&period; <em>The Founder<&sol;em> could have been a showing of over-acting within the impacting scenes&comma; but the film takes a more somber route&comma; and it works very well&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This biopic is wonderfully shot by the cinematographer John Schwartzman and director John Le Hancock&period; From the elegant use of lighting of the darker scenes within the flick to the overall theme of red and yellow &lpar;McDonald’s colors&rpar; set within key scenes&comma; <em>The Founder<&sol;em> is a beauty to watch&period; Scenes with his wife by herself are especially haunting as the lighting is dim when she finds out Kroc mortgaged their home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The Founder<&sol;em> is one film that audiences will be &OpenCurlyQuote;lovin’’ more than the brand it is based on&comma; thanks to its writing&comma; cinematography&comma; and acting&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;