McDonald’s feeds 1% of the world’s population, selling more than 2.4 million Big Macs a day. Few people across the globe aren’t familiar with the $218.65 billion fast food giant. But few are very familiar with John Lee Hancock’s 2016 biopic on the enterprise’s rise to fame, The Founder, which thoughtfully and artistically tackles the creation and expansion of this omnipresent, instantly recognizable business– yet it remains neglected from the public view.
The film’s premiere almost ten years ago garnered little response besides disappointingly finishing ninth in the box office. No large nominations, let alone victories, followed its release, despite a fully immersive performance by Michael Keaton, clever writing, and artful cinematography. So what is the explanation for such a contradiction?
The movie starts with the introduction of low-level opportunist salesman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) as he comes across the remarkably innovative McDonald brothers and their modest local restaurant. The movie’s first half feels exactly like a manifestation of what a McDonald’s origin-story biopic should be like– portraying all of the characters in a rose-tinted, heroic way, all while idolizing the golden arches.
But what deviates Hancock’s film from our expectations comes in the second half of the movie. The teamwork between Kroc and the McDonald brothers becomes polarized between Ray’s remorseless, unscrupulous capitalism and the brothers’ focus on the humble, family values of the original company.
This transformation of Kroc from an ambitious entrepreneur in collaboration with the McDonald brothers to a dishonest and Machiavellian grafter is what really causes this movie to outperform. An initially charming tale of a restaurant’s humble origins increasingly depicts the fast food chain as built upon corruption, adultery, and deception, tackling the darkest sides of capitalism.
While the first half of the film almost feels like a sponsored commercial for the company, the second half leaves the audience feeling guilty for ever wanting a Big Mac, disillusioned by its underhand and amoral transformation into the ultimate symbol of American consumerism.
So why does a story with such captivating writing, managing seamlessly to pull out the rug from underneath the viewer, flop in the box office and go practically forgotten? Most signs point to its budget. The already worn-thin budget wasn’t enough to support an expansive marketing campaign, incapacitating its ability to compete with the “La La Land”s and “Rogue One”s of the same year.
But the poor advertising ultimately doesn’t do the film justice. The acting and writing tell an enthralling narrative both easy to follow and impossible to forget. The movie, of course, is far from groundbreaking, but will leave any viewer impressed with the story it tells. Hancock illuminates a woeful tale that America has ignored and McDonalds has hidden from you. If you’re familiar with the name “McDonald’s,” The Founder certainly deserves a watch.
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