This week’s “Wine and Film, A Perfect Pairing” podcast on reVolver Podcasts, featured a pairing of some of the larger corporate wine estates with a new film starring Michael Keaton as “The Founder.”

A little bit more on Gary’s thoughts on the film below. We posted on a few of the key wine estates included in our discussion yesterday. A link to the show is here, just click “Episode 31.” And, be sure to subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, IHeartRadio or Google Play Music.

The Film: “The Founder”

“The Founder” provides Michael Keaton with another opportunity to shine as an actor and reminds me that during his current comeback continues to choose fascinating material. It’s also a good film, but not a great film.

Keaton plays the late, Ray Croc, the man who founded the McDonald’s franchise but was not the founder of McDonald’s. The iconic “Golden Arches” concept was created by two hard working dedicated brothers played well by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch.

It was Ray Croc who helped them think big and eventually it was Ray Croc who paid them off, pushed them aside, and turned McDonald’s into a multi-billion dollar real estate burger business.

In the beginning, “The Founder,” feels like capitalism and corporate America at it’s best but by the end of Mr. Croc’s empire building it leaves you feeling slightly soiled.

You feel bad for the McDonald’s brothers who willingly sold their empire for pennies and never complained about the outcome.

“The Founder” is directed by one of the best, John Lee Hancock, who lures you into his biography with an accurate sense of time and place and then slowly digs under your skin as character and lack of integrity begin to reveal itself. It’s a well-written, well-constructed film that shines one minute and hurts the next.

Oscars overlooked “The Founder” and that is not a knock on it’s quality, but there is another cinematic level to be reached and Keaton seems to be the only one trying to get there. Once again, it’s a good film, not a great film.