The Founder

Writer Robert Siegel and director John Lee Hancock trace the career of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) as he expands McDonald’s from a successful little San Bernardino drive-in to the most lucrative food-service business on Earth, while screwing the original McDonald brothers (Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch) out of millions in royalties. It’s a wickedly clever study of inspiration, enthusiasm and perseverance morphing into avarice and ruthlessness—Macbeth among the deep-fryers, except that nobody actually gets murdered, and Macbeth and his Lady (Linda Cardellini as Joan Smith Kroc) assuage their consciences by donating billions to charity. Performances are sharp and keenly observed. (Note, for example, Patrick Wilson as Joan’s first husband, seeing his wife and Ray Kroc fall in love right under his nose.) J.L.