We’ve all eaten there. We all know the name: McDonald’s. The Golden Arches are among some of the most recognizable symbols in the world. But how did it get there?

“The Founder” is the story of exactly that. It begins with Ray Kroc, a then traveling salesman, who is selling milkshake machines. Moving from restaurant to restaurant, he is denied.

Out on his luck, he’s called to make a deal for eight machines from a restaurant in Southern California. McDonald’s was the restaurant, and thus begins Ray Kroc’s determination for success. While visiting founders, Mac and Dick McDonald, he convinces them to let him into their business to expand, and this is where Pandora’s box is opened.

The true story continues to show how Ray Kroc mercilessly takes over the business with his ideas and giant plans for expansion.

Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc very well, showing the audience how truly persistent and determined Kroc was. However that’s all that is really shown of Kroc. The audience is left with questions about why Kroc wants to be McDonald’s economic catalyst. It’s the wake of Kroc’s actions that make this movie great, however. Kroc’s wife, Ethel, played by Laura Dern, shows us a woman left behind for riches and admiration. This performance ties very well into the roles of Mac and Dick McDonald played by John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman. The depressing story of the true McDonald’s founders is at times tough to watch but also add so much emotional value to the movie.

The brothers founded a restaurant based on speed and quality and went “gangbusters” after perfecting their shared life’s work. Which makes it all the more depressing to see Ray Kroc inevitably steamroller their entire philosophy of equal speed AND quality. Could you imagine a McDonald’s that tasted like a real, quality restaurant? That was the original plan.

Directed by John Lee Hancock, his vision for this movie was great. His movie is underlaid with a well done piece of evidence that the American dream exists. Only in this case it could be also identified as robbery. Ray Kroc takes the American Dream to a dark new level by investing and obsessing his entire life into the one thing he truly now cares about: McDonald’s. And it’s shown very well through the lens as well. The cinematography, done by John Schwartzman, has a nice subtle symbolism and composition that is sprinkled throughout the movie. There’s something really beautiful about the original McDonald’s buildings. The way the yellow neon arches rowed up and over the building showed the audience how it all started and how it looked too.

All in all this movie was great, and if you’re a fan of McDonald’s it’s a nice origin story for that special restaurant. Without McDonald’s America wouldn’t quite be America. We all need that greedy capitalism Ray Kroc shows us in the true story of the Founder. Why? Because sometimes we all just want a burger from McDonald’s and whether we like it or not we have Ray Kroc and the McDonald’s brothers to thank for it. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.