Official Voltage Pictures Reagan Trailer
A Subtle Comparison Between the Past & Present
It’s not uncommon for political leaning films to release during an election year. All The President’s Men infamously released in 1976 in time for the Carter-Ford election, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln debuted in 2012 to coincided with the Obama-Romney run, The Purge: Election Year in 2016 for Trump vs. Hillary, and just this year, Civil War released in time for the 2024 election. And yet another political release came with Reagan to capitilize on the political climate without leaning too heavy onto either side.
Being Political Without Politics
Reagan details the life of former President Ronald Reagan, covering his time in Hollywood while tying into his political career. The movie primarily focuses on his work rooting out communism and his encounters with the Soviet Union. Based on the novel The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, the movie was directed by Sean McNamara and written by Howard Klausner. Reagan stars Dennis Quaid, Jon Voight, Penelope Ann Miller, and Robert Davi.
With the way culture has shifted, it’s hard to make a biopic about a president without it being ridiculed for being political. Few are able to stay apolitical, such as Lincoln and to a certain extent 2016’s LBJ (detailing the life of Lyndon B. Johnson) and 2008’s W (focusing on George W. Bush). However, others usually find themselves being at the center of a culture war, in the case of 2016’s Barry and 2019’s Vice. While Reagan will likely face criticism online, the film itself is able to feel disconnected from today’s political climate and not target either side of the political isle.
Reflecting on politics from the 1970s and ’80s, Reagan finds subtle ways to show how current issues today are directly tied to the past. There are mentions of inflation and cultural distaste toward the president that come off as parallels to what is happening right now. These brief connections never come as digs toward current and recent presidents, but rather demonstrate how these conflicts aren’t new to American politics, but rather par for the course.
Impersonations
Clocking in at 2 hours and 15 minutes, Reagan stays engaging for the majority of the runtime. Part of this is due to Quaid’s performance as the 40th President of the United States. He brings an elegant and formal persona to Reagan, while finding ways to inject his charm and charisma. Sprinkled throughout the film are several scenes that present the president in an kindhearted manner that do feel overplayed, as if the filmmakers were trying hard to paint a certain picture of Reagan.
By consistently showing Reagan as stoic and well-mannered makes the filmmakers appear to solely want to gush about the former president, rather than be fair critics. Taking for example another biopic, such as Elvis, that film respected the late musician, showing the important qualities to his character, while still not shying away from his flaws. Unfinished projects appeared to be the only negatives shown in the movie. It isn’t necessary for Reagan to be a complete deconstruction of Ronald Reagan, exposing every piece of dirt anyone could find about him, but it also would have helped humanize his character, rather than constantly depicting him as a flawless being with no real struggles. On the flip side, it does provided viewers with an idea to strive for, showing a classic look at a president versus how people feel about our current day leaders.
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Without being a primary character to the central plot of the film, Jon Voight has an integral role that at times feels slightly unneccsariy. Voight plays an ex-KGB agent named Viktor Petrovich, with the majority of his scenes set in the present day. In the beginning of the movie, a Russian agent named Andrei Novikov (Alex Sparrow) visits Petrovich at his home in Moscow. Here, the agent begins asking questions about why the Soviet Union fell, leading to Petrovich telling Novikov about Reagan’s life. Throughout the movie, Voight interjects to narrate certain scenes, but his character is absent for large chunks of the film. From what little we see of him, Voight portrays the character in an interesting way that could possibly be a film of its own. Being a former adversary to America, it’s interesting to see him talk about Reagan in such a positive way, almost to the point of admiration.
Connecting the Past to Now
Although Voight is good in his role, his character feels like an unnecessarily inclusion that does little to improve the story. If the filmmakers were to remove him entirely from the film, nothing about the end result would change, other than shaving off a few extra minutes from the runtime. Although being slightly over two hours isn’t usually an issue for biopics, Reagan does feel like it drags at times, mainly during the second act. Possibly tightening up the runtime and removing excess scenes could have helped the movie flow better, focusing primarily on Reagan tackling communism.
Ultimately, this focus on communism seems to be at war with the rest of the film, as it almost seems like two separate movies. For the first half of the movie, it appears as if Reagan solely wants to focus on detailing the president’s life, whereas the second half seems more interested in telling the story about the war on communism. While both parts are compelling in their own right, it does seem to struggle to find a perfect blend or balance between the two. It leaves audiences feeling as if the film would have been better suited for a limited series on a streaming platform where Reagan’s life could be fully explored, rather than limited to a two-hour runtime.
While Reagan isn’t without it’s flaws, the film still is able to be a captivating movie that gives modern audiences a glimps into the Reagan presidency. It draws parallels to today without feeling overly political, despite the film being about a president. The acting is sufficient, especially Quaid’s role as Reagan. However, the movie seemingly highlights the reasons why Reagan likely should have been a streaming series where storylines and parts of Reagan’s life could have better been explored, rather than trimmed down.
Reagan is currently playing in theaters.
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Author
| Mason Kupiainen is a recent Butler University graduate with a degree in Creative Media and Entertainment. His work has been published in Butler Collegiate, The Mall, and Byte BSU. Along with written work, he has a videography portfolio with Indy Blue Video, Byte BSU, and Ball Bearings. |
