Reagan (2024)

Reagan-(2024)
Reagan (2024)

Reagan

Ronald Reagan, smiley man in the Oval Office, reached the office of president following a remarkably painful-folk American rite in the as he had to defeat communists and institutions that were the most extreme Korea which America has received in decades. How does “The Great Communicator” somehow fit between these extremes? It is still unclear if he made complex issues sound simple because he was a good communicator or if the reason for this was because he was a simpleton to begin with. Reagan, with Dennis Quaid playing the protagonist, is made by MJM Entertainment Group, well known for specific Christian themed films. It skips all the limits, mistakes and failures but rather emphasizes the strengths of Reagan who did get a couple things done.

This is a 2 hour film about a single person’s life history that is impactful enough to endorse. A biopic therefore has its share of challenges where alignment and emphasis on important events matter a lot. This is however rather strange as this narrative has been developed in light of a fictional history where a Soviet spy watches Reagan for years with admiration which seems problematically repetitive conceit.

Let me be clear, and don’t get me wrong: I would never tout myself as the expert on Reagan’s presidency, a position the spy plays in this film, but rather, I worked next door to the White House as a lawyer during the presidency of Reagan, in a division of the Executive Office of the President. I met the President and First Lady just once, but I prepared briefing materials for him, and several of the political appointees where I worked met him on a regular basis. For those who have not had that experience, even for those who were not born when he was President, the unfaltering idiosyncratic aspects of this film should put into perspective any false applause. It is clear that if a viewer simply turns on a biased film without looking back, they will find disgustment with this film. It would have been more artistic.

Just like other biographical films, this film begins with the later years of the protagonist before going back to the younger years of the same character. The film opens with Reagen during his first months in office. He told a story about a father who does not want to change his child’s nappy to a union audience. Many viewers, especially those who lived through that period, and take note of the particular date, will understand that before he is seen leaving the Hilton, this is the place where stalker Reagan along with three other individuals would be assaulted by an insane youth. What is the relevance of this particular event? This is the most anti climactic event in the world because everyone knows that he lived through that experience. Apart from his one-liners, “I forgot to duck’ which he said to his spouse, it does not reveal much about Reagan’s personality or the role he played in the history of the country.

We then shift gears to Jon Voight who plays the aged Viktor, a former KGB officer who has been recounting his experiences of stalking a certain American political figure to the young above. Viktor Petrovitch Ivanov, the former officer of the KGB on which the character Viktor may be based, does not appear to have uttered or done what the film depicted. Viktor states that his role involved, “profiling those who could become threats and analysing their psychological weaknesses,” to which he saw as an equally essential part. This brings us back to America where the movie revolves around President Reagan’s early life starting in a small town Dixon. He is taken to church and reconciled with the idea that every occurrence, “even the most freakish of coincidences” is for a reason. And that reason is God, and she instructs her son not to be afraid of brutes. His father’s attributes include charm, eloquence and fascination with stories, but he is inconstant and an alcoholic. Through his entire life, Reagan would adjoin and respond to each of them constituting the environments in which he was immersed.

His experience as a lifeguard will also have some significance. The film does not attempt to authenticate the claim by Reagan that he had saved 77 people, although we do see that due to his looks, some of those rescues might have been girls feigning distress in order to get his attention. But later we will come to know (or be told at least), ‘those long days staring into the water gave Mr. Reagan not only a distinctive insight into the anger of the waves, but commensurately the ability to forecast international security developments.’ Quite so.

We then witness events of the past. Reagan’s stardom had passed and he was on his way to divorce Jane Wyman (Mena Suvari). He had lost his place and was forced to participate in commercials, only to take an active role in the actors’ union and protect Hollywood from the red menace. This is how he met Nancy; his next wife and actress Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller). Next, he engaged in the political realm and became the Governor and later President. Avoiding taxes had been an innovatory doctrine, or trickle down economics, which (1) was suggested by economist Arthur Laffer and (2) has been repeatedly shown to be, let us phrase it without the assistance of economists, idiocy.

Reagan is played by Quaid who nails the casualness and speech pattern while the interactions between him and Miller also convincingly portrays their commitment and collaboration towards each other but the film focuses too much on his artistic sensitivity and otherwise sweet features, hardly touches the Iranian-Contra episode and misses several others entirely. “Oops” is about all Ron Reagan has to say in response to Iran-Contra much like a negligent parent might say about a deceased goldfish. But it comes so close to parody that it instantaneously brings the mastery skit from Saturday Night Live to mind. Phil Hartman plays Reagan as a big idiot but turns out to have a steel brain. This and other Reagan dominated themes can be a lot of fun to study (currently 16th in the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey). What made him the so-called great communicator is something which we would benefit from knowing more about but sadly in this movie, history and the person administering the movie has failed to be an effective communicator.

Also Watch On Putlocker.

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