The Founder is a film that, FOR SURE, should have garnered more buzz in the beginning of this year when it was fully released. The story of Ray Kroc, and how he franchised, what is now one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the world, and how he lets nobody get in his way and how he looked out for only himself.

In line with The Social Network and The Wolf of Wall Street, The Founder is a tale of ruthlessness. It’ll definitely make you think twice before going through that drive-thru and ordering yourself a Big Mac.

Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, the man responsible for franchising a small, successful burger joint located in San Bernardino, California. That burger joint, McDonalds, is run by Richard and Maurice McDonald, played by the always wonderful Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch.

Now, let me talk about Michael Keaton and his performance here for a moment. He successfully transforms into Ray Kroc. From his speech patterns to his movements to his facial expressions, he completely becomes him. He begins as a character that you kind of like. I mean, after all, Ray Kroc is being played by Michael Keaton, and who doesn’t love Michael Keaton? But, as the film goes on, the audience really truly learns to hate this man. And, even though you hate him, even though he is despicable, you continue to watch the film, because now you care more about the McDonald’s brothers than our main character. You want to know what happens to them, as Ray Kroc destroys everything that they’ve worked so hard to build. I mean, after buying out the McDonald brothers as partners, and not allowing them to use their name or any variation of their name for their own restaurant, he opens a McDonald’s franchise RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THEM AND DRIVES THEM OUT OF BUSINESS. I hate this man, and yet I’d watch this film a thousand times over, solely for the performance of Keaton.

Overall, The Founder is a very well made film. It’s visually appealing and the characters are engrossing, as is the story that the film is telling.

As this blog post is being published, The Founder is currently on Netflix. Go and watch it. Let me know what you think!