The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Depicting the rise of McDonald’s and telling the untold story behind the man who made it all happen, The Founder, directed by John Lee Hancock – see The Blind Side – offers an entertaining and at times disturbing insight into the cutthroat world of business. Boosted by Michael Keaton’s magnetic performance, The Founder is interesting and engaging, and while it lacks that necessary emotional punch, it still manages to deliver the goods.

Based, of course, on a true story, the movie begins with the introduction to Ray Kroc (Keaton); a travelling and a seemingly weary salesman who moves from city to city selling milkshake makers to restaurants and diners that are hesitant to buy. Struggling to make a decent living, life at home with wife, Ethel (played by the terribly wasted Laura Dern) isn’t great either, with the marriage beginning to show signs of strain.

However, things soon take a turn when Ray comes across a small restaurant that has somehow managed to stick out from the competition by maintaining food quality and an incredibly speedy service. Like a true predator, Ray soon smell a business opportunity in the making, reaching out to the modest owners with an idea of immediate franchising.  However, the brothers are hesitant to take the step but soon give in, completely unaware that they have just entered into a deal that will change their lives forever.

It’s clear that Ray Kroc – praised by many and often referred to as one of the most influential people of the 20th Century – was not exactly an easy person to love. Possessed with the idea of success, The Founder tells the story of a man – an egotistical, flawed and an ambitious one at that – whose tireless persistence and unethical methods helped him climb the ladder of success, often at the cost of others.  Positioning itself as an underdog tale, the first half of the movie is spent with Ray discovering this new world of opportunity, getting close to the original founders – whose naivety he goes on to exploit at great lengths later down the road – and learning about the innovative techniques they have created in order to boost quality, efficiency and productivity for their business. Hancock keeps things interesting – maybe a little too upbeat – relying on flashbacks to give the story its back legs, offering a constant sense of amazement and absolute dismay throughout the passing minutes. 

Keaton embraces his role with arms wide open, while offering the same amount of commitment and energy witnessed in 2014’s Birdman; watching Keaton, as he’s being taken over by greed in the movie’s second half is both riveting and disturbing in equal amounts.