Micro Reviews #6: The Founder & Moonlight (Micro Reviews)

The Founder:

The Founder is a rise and fall story without the fall aspect.  About a persistent man named Ray Kroc, whose ambition and greed helped him rise to the top—leeching off good people who helped him get there before throwing them under the bus, yet never himself falling from the throne.  That, in itself, makes The Founder a fascinating film, and I commend its deceptive use of an upbeat soundtrack and charismatic lead man (Michael Keaton) to help masquerade its protagonist’s role as the film’s true villain, even when it gets outright obvious.

Yet what initially drew me in about The Founder is its biographical telling of McDonald’s history—from its humble origins involving the McDonald brothers (a ten minute segment that feels like a genuine, engaging documentary), to Ray Kroc’s gradual seizure and transformation of the family restaurant into one of the world’s largest restaurant chains.  In addition to its engaging storytelling, the film is surprisingly accurate to its real-life history—a rare mix to find in cinema, as well as a delightful treat for a history major such as myself.  All these elements combined make The Founder a captivating story to watch.

Moonlight:

There was so much more potential for part iii.  Moonlight is separated into three sections, each one focused on a different segment of its protagonist Chiron’s life: part i (as a child), part ii (as a teenager) and part iii (as an adult).  Part i is…alright: having decent, albeit rushed characterization and bonding (Juan and Chiron’s father-son relationship blossoms way too quickly to feel natural, and ends with too little interaction to feel impactful); part ii gets a more lukewarm response, thriving on overused high school tropes and, once again, bonds with insufficient development.  Part iii, however (which focuses on Chiron reuniting with his estranged friend Kevin), is really good—stopped short of greatness only due to its limited runtime.

The way I see it, part iii should have been the entire film: something comparable to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset where two old acquaintances reunite and rekindle their close relationship after a past event distanced them.  The story would follow the characters as they spend the day together reuniting: walking around the city, doing various activities, discussing their pasts (including the “incident” that drove them apart) and what they’re up to now, before ending similarly to the original film’s conclusion.  This version of Moonlight would focus solely on the original’s key strength—the adult relationship between Chiron and Kevin—while avoiding the time-consuming subplots (which could have worked as their own full-length stories, but are too constrained within the film’s runtime) and tiresome clichés through telling over showing (a rare example of “show don’t tell” being the inferior option for a film).  For what I actually got, however, Moonlight is still a decently made film, though one with a lot of missed potential.