The Founder

Though The Founder has informational value as we learned how things happened, it’s unsurprising and unremarkable from the filmmaking point of view, even in the 4:3 aspect ratio; it’s something you watch on TV after a Sunday lunch. At least Hitchcock was about Hitchcock and jOBS about Jobs, whose fame merited a movie (I’m mentioning these two because they are also lesser movies, equally uninteresting in the filmmaking respect). Ray Kroc’s story is a dime -a-dozen tale of a successful businessman who conned two of his partners, destroyed the third one’s marriage and became a king. In the climax, the movie makes him show some remorse, but still unambiguously glorifies him as the winner of his era. The creators don’t even touch upon the quality of what his chain is feeding people, especially children. Michael Keaton is alright, he fits the role perfectly, but even a lesser known actor would have sufficed. (26/01/2017)

I would never have thought that the story of the McDonald brothers would be so interesting. Unfortunately, interesting rather in the negative sense of the word. I would sum it up by saying that the movie The Founder presents one ot the most unorthodox stories of a brand that became a worldwide phenomenon. I don’t know whether this is standard in the world of business, but this movie represents a model example of how business is done. Michael Keaton is absolutely incredible in this film and believe you me that even if you don’t like hamburgers from the Golden Arches, you will feel sorry for the McDonald brothers anyways. That’s how strong this movie is. (03/05/2017)

Great biopic about the creation of the powerful McDonald's franchise. Michael Keaton is excellent in his role, occasionally funny, and I really enjoyed watching how the story unfolds. A bit like The Social Network, with Facebook replaced by McDonald's. Interesting, educational, entertaining, and occasionally thrilling. Definitely a solid biopic. 8/10. (10/02/2021)

Today we finished the story of how it all began with a McDonald’s (a promo McBus came to town with real meat in their burgers). Keaton is excellent, but John Lee Hancock brings no surprises in terms of cinema. The main problem is the ordinariness of the whole story. If the brand wasn’t so popular, almost certainly no movie would have been made. But there’s no controversy, but nevertheless a good watch. (22/04/2017)

An honestly told story about a truth that all company founders know all too well: it's not so much about talent, but about perseverance and the drive to move forward. The Founder may not be as inventive and sophisticated as other bombastic tales of ascent, but it cannot be denied a certain degree of realism, occasionally biting sarcasm and functional elements from life (family problems, debts, etc.). It may not have any climactic moments, but it's a classy film. Michael Keaton steals the whole film for himself and the statement "the older the better" applies to him as well. (23/04/2017)