Persistent, energetic, and struggling milkshake mixer
salesman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is dumbfounded when a San Bernardino
restaurant places an order for eight machines when he can barely sell one himself
and drives halfway across the country to check out the operation. There he
meets the McDonald brothers (Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch) and discovers
their “fast food” concept in what amounts to a revelation from God, and places
all his energies into franchising the restaurant and expanding his burger
empire at all costs. The Founder amounts
to little more than an unabashed, unashamed two hour McDonald’s commercial that
decides it wants to be Citizen Kane
in the last ten minutes and helped little by Keaton’s frenetic, tic-conscious
performance.
* 1/2 out of ****
