Plot summary

Impressed by the revolutionary Speedee Service System of American brothers, Richard McDonald and Maurice McDonald, over-the-hill 52-year-old milkshake-machine salesman Ray Kroc, drives to their small drive-in restaurant in 1954 San Bernardino, California. After tasting a fresh, scrumptious, 15-cent hamburger from grill to counter in just 30 seconds and learning all about the ingenious brothers' secret of success, Ray Kroc has an epiphany: what if the business of the innovative duo was franchised? As one thing leads to another and Ray manages to strike a business deal with the McDonald brothers, what follows next is a tale of hard work, persistence, and determination, peppered with equal amounts of manipulation, ruthlessness, and greed. In an increasingly competitive world, just how far is one willing to go to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?—Nick Riganas