'The Founder' doesn't take a stand for or against protagonist's avarice
鈥淭he Founder,鈥� starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, is being called聽the first film of the Trump era, which seems a bit much since, when it first聽was in development, Donald Trump was barely a glint in the collective聽electorate鈥檚 eye. But then again, movies have a way of picking up聽vibrations in the zeitgeist before they actually hit the radar screen.
Keaton鈥檚 Kroc is a Midwest traveling salesman whose eyes widen when聽he checks out a burger stand in San Bernardino, Calif. run by聽brothers Mac and Dick McDonald (played by John Carroll Lynch and聽Nick Offerman, both excellent). The brothers have initiated a near-revolutionary way of streamlining burger production, and Kroc wants in.
First he high-pressures the brothers into allowing him to franchise the聽enterprise, and then he inexorably (and legally) wrests the company from the聽brothers altogether.
Director John Lee Hancock and screenwriter Robert Siegel never take a聽firm stand one way or the other regarding Kroc鈥檚 avarice. He is聽indubitably power-hungry and ethics challenged, but at the same time,聽Hancock seems to be positioning him as the embodiment of the go-getter聽spirit that made America great and all that jazz. We鈥檙e supposed to聽admire Kroc while also denouncing him.
I wouldn鈥檛 mind it if the filmmakers came by this ambiguousness聽naturally. But their he-can- mean-whatever- you-want- him-to- mean agenda聽seems wishy-washy and opportunistic. A more sharply satiric and聽expansive director, such as Robert Altman or Michael Ritchie (鈥淭he聽Candidate鈥�), could have turned this material into a classic love-hate letter聽to 鈥淎merican鈥� values.
鈥淭he Founder鈥� remains fascinating largely because Keaton is so good聽at guile and bile. Not once does he wink at the audience or overplay the聽obvious. His Kroc is magnetically repellent 鈥� more so, I venture to guess,聽than the filmmakers intended him to be. He鈥檚 the man you love to hate.聽Grade: B- (Rated聽PG-13 for brief strong language.)
