Tweet
It's going to be a tall order reviewing a biopic about one of the world's most prominent politicians of the last century without getting political, but here goes.
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie is told in flashback, the framing device being the visit of a rising political star in Russia to the home of a long retired KGB intelligence officer (Jon Voight), who spent most of his career studying Ronald Reagan in a failed attempt to prevent him from bringing down the USSR. One nice early giggle comes when he presents a dossier to Leonid Brezhnev at a Politburo meeting, who attempts to dismiss him. "But Comrade General Secretary, I've written this large dossier on him," protests the agent. "Thank you, comrade. Now go write another," replies Brezhnev, dismissively.
The movie is largely, though not completely, a panegyric, presenting Reagan's life story as those who regard his legacy as almost 100% positive would likely want to see it told. The "not completely" qualifier is because Iran/Contra isn't glossed over completely, and the onset of Alzheimer's toward the end of his second term is acknowledged. In the opening scenes, he takes on the commies in Hollywood and prevents SAG from falling into the hands of Soviet stooges (Dalton Trumbo is portrayed as a mustachioed, hair-gelled bad guy reminiscent of anti-commie B-movie noirs of the '40s and '50s such as I Married a Communist and I Was a Communist for the FBI). We then see his marriage to Jane Wyman fall apart as his career drifts away from acting and into politics, encouraged by Nancy (whom he meets as a result of her asking him to rescue her from being falsely labeled a communist!). His governorship of California and failed 1974 Presidential campaign are not given a huge amount of screen time, before the second half of the movie (somewhat predictably) focuses on the 1980s, and specifically his work with Gorbachev to end the Cold War.
Dennis Quaid is very convincing in the lead role, his appearance, voice and mannerisms having an uncanny similarity to the 1980s footage of Reagan I remember from my childhood. The other historical figures, though, much less so. Olek Krupa as Gorbachev looks about 10-15 years older than the real thing does in contemporary footage, and Lesley Anne Down as Thatcher nothing like her at all (not only compared to the real thing, but also Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady). There are some nice light-hearted moments, in particular the deaths in quick succession of Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko (surrounded by cigarettes and vodka), immediately followed by footage of almost identical state funerals. For those who don't remember Reagan's famous response on being told of the death of Chernenko, I won't spoil it.
It's not a masterpiece, but definitely a satisfying memory lane experience for those of us who grew up in the '80s. I saw it at the Harkins Mountain Grove in Redlands, CA, where, as usual, the pix and sound were absolutely flawless. The auditorium was almost completely full (there were only 2-3 front row seats open), though my wife and I were the easily the youngest people there, by at least a decade.
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie is told in flashback, the framing device being the visit of a rising political star in Russia to the home of a long retired KGB intelligence officer (Jon Voight), who spent most of his career studying Ronald Reagan in a failed attempt to prevent him from bringing down the USSR. One nice early giggle comes when he presents a dossier to Leonid Brezhnev at a Politburo meeting, who attempts to dismiss him. "But Comrade General Secretary, I've written this large dossier on him," protests the agent. "Thank you, comrade. Now go write another," replies Brezhnev, dismissively.
The movie is largely, though not completely, a panegyric, presenting Reagan's life story as those who regard his legacy as almost 100% positive would likely want to see it told. The "not completely" qualifier is because Iran/Contra isn't glossed over completely, and the onset of Alzheimer's toward the end of his second term is acknowledged. In the opening scenes, he takes on the commies in Hollywood and prevents SAG from falling into the hands of Soviet stooges (Dalton Trumbo is portrayed as a mustachioed, hair-gelled bad guy reminiscent of anti-commie B-movie noirs of the '40s and '50s such as I Married a Communist and I Was a Communist for the FBI). We then see his marriage to Jane Wyman fall apart as his career drifts away from acting and into politics, encouraged by Nancy (whom he meets as a result of her asking him to rescue her from being falsely labeled a communist!). His governorship of California and failed 1974 Presidential campaign are not given a huge amount of screen time, before the second half of the movie (somewhat predictably) focuses on the 1980s, and specifically his work with Gorbachev to end the Cold War.
Dennis Quaid is very convincing in the lead role, his appearance, voice and mannerisms having an uncanny similarity to the 1980s footage of Reagan I remember from my childhood. The other historical figures, though, much less so. Olek Krupa as Gorbachev looks about 10-15 years older than the real thing does in contemporary footage, and Lesley Anne Down as Thatcher nothing like her at all (not only compared to the real thing, but also Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady). There are some nice light-hearted moments, in particular the deaths in quick succession of Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko (surrounded by cigarettes and vodka), immediately followed by footage of almost identical state funerals. For those who don't remember Reagan's famous response on being told of the death of Chernenko, I won't spoil it.
It's not a masterpiece, but definitely a satisfying memory lane experience for those of us who grew up in the '80s. I saw it at the Harkins Mountain Grove in Redlands, CA, where, as usual, the pix and sound were absolutely flawless. The auditorium was almost completely full (there were only 2-3 front row seats open), though my wife and I were the easily the youngest people there, by at least a decade.
Comment