Keaton stars as bumbling milkshake machine salesman, Ray Kroc. He's a dinosaur in the sales industry and you can tell this ain't his first rodeo. He's the guy that gets caught up in get-rich-quick, 'cockamamie' schemes year after year. He's the guy selling whatever he can that's hot at the moment to make a quick buck before the people purchasing said item realizes it's trash and he's moved on to the next new product. But, he's not a slime ball. You actually feel for the guy. He's been pushed down his entire life and never found that one magical moment of clarity in business that's set him on the path of glory. He works out of his car, he dresses like a square, and he leads a very boring life. That's when he gets a call from a restaurant in San Bernardino ordering an unprecedented eight milkshake machines. Krock climbs in his car and drives from Missouri to San Berdoo to check out just what the hell is going on. That's when he meets the McDonald brothers Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick (Nick Offerman), two pioneers who have essentially invented the fast food joint-- meals in thirty seconds. Kroc latches onto the two brothers and convinces them to franchise across the U.S. This is when he begins to turn from bumbly-blue-collar-nice-guy to a business shark out for blood. He ends up screwing over the brothers in more ways than one and essentially launches the most popular fast food burger franchise of all time.
The writing in the film is actually quite genius. While you think that the first half is more of a biopic of the guys who invented McDonalds and the film is essentially one giant Micky D's commercial, it's really a character study of one of the biggest assholes in business. Kroc is a nice guy. He is looking for opportunity and it is nice when he finally finds something he can use to his advantage. But as the film/story progresses, that mentality to become bigger and bigger overtakes Ray and destroys the brothers in the wake of his collateral damage. It's honestly a heartbreaking story as it goes on and you realize that what you have on your hands isn't a quaint little story of the guy who founded McDonalds, but more of a Walter White situation of a desperate man becoming a calamity-causing demon. This, of course, is enhanced by Keaton's stellar performance. He'd have no chance of winning an Oscar this year, going up against the likes of Casey Affleck and Denzel, but it's a damn shame he wasn't even nominated because her certainly gives one of the strongest performances of the year.
The movie is very clever the way that it traverses rocky terrain but feels like one smooth ride. It's almost too late into the movie before you realize you don't like Ray Kroc anymore and you're not entirely sure when that mentality switched because it felt like just a minute ago you were rooting for him. His attempts to cut spending, his dismissal of anyone in his way, and the way he treats his wife are all portrayed here (I assume) without any gloves on. You are not meant to think he's a hero. You are not meant to come out of the movie wanting McDonalds (though by the end no matter how much you hate Ray Kroc... you'll still want a cheeseburger). I'm honestly shocked that McDonalds didn't intervene and try to stop the movie because while it doesn't paint the restaurant itself in a bad light, it does absolutely no favors toward its so-called founder. The movie is defiitely like watching a car accident. There's probably no way you'll want to watch it again and you won't come out feeling very good about yourself... but it was damn sure interesting to see.
B+
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