The original hamburglar
the prototypical kitchen which pioneered turning traditional hamburgers into literal fast food. It almost makes you want to drive-thru on your way home.
For some, Kroc’s rise from persistent but unsuccessful peddler to the ambitious, self-titled ‘‘founder’’ of the international brand may be uncomfortable viewing, particularly shortly after the free world chose an unabashed capitalist as its next leader.
But at the same time, The Founder, while set in the 1950s, is very much a story of this time, with its tale of the little guy wanting to focus on quality and personal service who is overruled by the need for profits and expansion.
Director John Lee Hancock’s previous offerings drew audiences, but were criticised for their uninspiring but populist, middle-of-the-road, crowd-pleasing tendencies. (Ironically, that description can also be applied to McDonald’s.)
Even Emma Thompson couldn’t save Saving Mr Banks and Sandra Bullock controversially won her Oscar for The Blind Side, an on-the-nose, patronising tale of a white lady helping a young black lad out of poverty and into opportunity which rubbed more discerning viewers up the wrong way.
But Hancock knows how to spin a yarn, and though the evocation of ‘‘crosses – flags – [Golden] Arches!’’ purported by Kroc to represent America may cause Kiwi viewers to roll their eyes, the perfect casting of John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman as the earnestly ethical McDonald brothers (who coincidentally both appeared in Fargo: the original film, and TV spin-off, respectively) keeps the story grounded and its audience invested.
Nicely shot, smartly acted and efficient in its telling, The Founder may be hard to swallow for those annoyed by Americanisms, patriotism and the corporation itself.
But underneath lies a fascinating origin story of one of the world’s bestknown brands and a timely parable of greed, principles and the American Dream. – Sarah Watt