SEEN: The Founder

The Founder (film) – Wikipedia—The Founder (Rotten Tomatoes)—The Founder (2016) (IMDB)

Just seen. Biopic about Ray Kroc and Richard and Maurice McDonald.

Good, well crafted film, I thought. Amazing and subtle performance by Michael Keaton. Susceptible to the cliches and annoyances in plotting of a biopic, including the mandatory flashback setpieces (though the setpiece here was cute). But interestingly amoral, and giving both sides their hearing—and linking both sides to their broader cultural resonances, of small-town decency vs self-made man capitalism.

One or two clueless reviews lamented the fact that we the audience had to join the dots, and work out that Kroc was the villain. Those reviewers are idiots who do not deserve to breathe. The ambivalence of the film towards Kroc is the point. Yes, he’s a nasty piece of work. Yes, he shafted the McDonalds out of their royalties.

But—and I know that by saying this, I really have made my peace with the Market, God and Marx forgive me: I don’t think he was ultimately in the wrong. That is how business really is supposed to be.