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Author
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Topic: The Founder (2017)
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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.
Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004
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posted 01-21-2017 06:50 PM
CINEMA: Warren 21 (inside Warren East), Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 7
PRESENTATION: Warren WAVE Recline-O-Vision with Butt Warmers
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Oh God this heated seat is just fucking magical...zzzzz
RATING: Three stars (out of four)
My first time behind the legit gold flake doors, which are staffed by two dudes...one who takes your ticket, and one who opens the door for you. That scene in Titanic where they open the doors to the first class dining room to let you in? IT'S JUST LIKE THAT. And you can bet real money that's exactly what Bill Warren was going for. I wonder if anybody ever tips the door opener.
For those of you who were suckered into installing recliners but haven't raised your admission...RAISE YOUR ADMISSION. The extra $5 per ticket isn't hurting business here AT ALL. If anything, the 21 is cannibalizing business from the rest of the building.
The seat numbers are WAY easier to read here than other places because they're stiched into the upper left corner of the seat itself, and the auditorium is lit enough to read the numbers. 1...2...3...4...5...6...uh, a woman is sitting in mine. That's an unexpected bonus.
"Uh, that's my seat."
"It is?" *smacks guy in next seat* "What seats are we supposed to be in?"
Guy looks at tickets. "Uh, four and five."
"You said five and six before!"
"I didn't say anything at all! I just let you sit down wherever."
"YOU SAID FIVE AND SIX!" They argue about this while she unreclines and moves and we all laugh out loud, as does pretty much the whole room.
THE PLOT: Ray Kroc is a douchebag. Wackiness...uh, actually, that's pretty much the whole movie in a nutshell.
Kroc is NOT the founder of McDonald's, but he pretty much took credit for everything while battling the McBrothers over pretty much everything before buying the company and screwing them out of future royalty payments. And that's basically the period this movie covers. It's really about their relationship. You won't see a Big Mac, breakfast item, or mansard building anywhere. There's the original former drive-in Dick and Maurice started, and one original dual arch walk-up that they throw different backdrops against to present the illusion they were at different locales.
Michael Keaton does a fine job as Kroc, but from his first sales pitch I found myself thinking how fantastic this movie would have been if they'd put Christopher Walken in the lead. Sure it would make this thing a cartoon, buy my God it would have been hilarious.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 08-10-2017 01:01 AM
This is one of those movies I wanted to see, but knew we'd never play it, so I just recently caught it on Netflix.
I guess whether you like or dislike the movie will have to depend on who you think the good guy in the story is.
A person who loves McDonald's and can't imagine life without it will be cheering for Ray Kroc at the end, as he puts those idiot McDonald brothers in their place, builds the business up to be a worldwide success, and brings fast food to the masses, virtually reinventing the idea of eating-on-the-go in the process.
If, on the other hand, you figure McDonald's has done nothing but cheapen and homogenize the old-fashioned drive-in-dining experience (which is exactly what they did, after Kroc took over) then you'll be cheering for the McBrothers and wishing they'd had a way to put that bastard Kroc in his place, and you'll figure the movie has a sad ending and you'll end up a little depressed and irritated about Corporate America and how they keep screwing the little guys.
Either way you view it, it's a fascinating story, and well-told. I read a cover feature about this exact story in Time magazine back in the 70s and was fascinated by it then, too. This movie gets it pretty accurately.
Michael Keaton does a fine job as Ray Kroc. He is perfect for the role, as a bit of a know-it-all who is just feeling his way through a new business venture, but eventually becomes powerful without quite realizing how it happened.
It's Nick Offerman, though, who deserves the bigger kudo as Dick McDonald. He gives a stirring performance, especially toward the end of the movie, bringing great emotion to the role as a guy who is seeing his "baby" being exploited, and wishes things could just go back to the way they were.
I read some of the "goofs" on this movie on the IMDB and I imagine Bobby Henderson would have a coronary watching it, because a lot of things like highway signs and other graphical items are not historically accurate. But it's not one of those movies where you're really savoring the background scenes, you're too riveted on the fast pace of the story.
If you like business documentaries, you would probably love this one. I'll give it 4 stars instead of 5, because I'm closer to the second scenario above.
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