Reagan (2024)

Reagan-(2024)
Reagan (2024)

Over the years American society has transformed a fair amount, but somehow Ronald Reagan has not been touched by time and still remains popular across the right spectrum. With a simplicity that is stereotypical of a rural man, Reagan became a movie star, union activist, and political leader who held radically right economic and national security views and maintained them while being charming in the Oval Office. These character traits would be typically associated with the title of “the Great Communicator”, but in practice, it’s difficult to figure out how simply the man really behaved: did he indeed see the world through simple models, or was it all just declaration. MJM Entertainment Group, known for its Christian-themed films, produced “Reagan,” where Dennis Quaid plays the titular role. The emphasis was put on the strengths of Reagan’s character like never before, the less savory sides were either glossed over or not mentioned at all.

Explain the phenomenon of Hollywood’s “Reagan” in the right political circles, why this man possessed such a remarkable dealumination and how he was so strongly stuck in everyone’s mind that every decade more than a few movies, TV series, and other creative works are produced telling about the life of Reagan?

I should never hold myself out as the specialist on the Reagan presidency (which is the role that the spy occupies in the film), though I was a lawyer during the Reagan era, working in an office that was situated next to that of the President. I counted it one of my lifetime’s successes to have met the President and the First Lady on one occasion, to have drafted a few briefings out for the former, and to have had several political appointees I was involved with have met him plenty of times. This was something that even the Fischer’s didn’t have to even think about, even those who didn’t exist the day he became president, have a right to take issue with the adulation portrayed in this film. There was needless bias which led to bad filmmaking, especially because this film has wooden dialogue and odd rhythms to it which makes it painful to watch.

Typically in biographical films, the audience will witness a life-changing event, and then they will be shown a flashback to the early years of the subject. This film opens with episodes of Reagan’s presidency in the first few months depicting him making a joke about a husband who is too lazy to change diapers to a union group. Well, those who had followed that period’s history and got the date in St. knew it well even before the President got out of the Hilton that it is the site where Ronald Reagan together with three other people would be shot by a young mentally disturbed man. What would be the rationale behind beginning with such an event? This is not very climactic in any event since we all know that he lived on. Besides, his comments (“I forgot to duck,” he tells his wife) do not paint a very useful picture of his character or his place in history.

At this point, we come to Jon Voight playing Viktor, the aged ex-KGB officer who has indulged in this tale of interest as a young politician with prospects. The spy may be modeled on a KGB defector, Petrovitch Ivanov Viktor, though there is no proof that he quote said or did what is seen in the movie. Viktor clarifies that, in a way, his function was to “Assess those who may precipitate circumstances to be destructive,” what was as much an art as espionage was the psychological insight into the one being monitored. This brings us back to Reagan being born in a slight town in Dixon Illinois. Raised with a devout, church-going mother, she tells him that everything, “even the most ordinary-seeming serendipity,” is providence. She makes sure bullies know their place. An alcoholic father who is charming, a great storyteller but most unreliable. Legacies that Reagan would adapt to and adopt throughout his life.

His stints as a lifeguard might also be relevant. The film does not attempt to validate Reagan’s assertion that he saved 77 lives, but we do see that he was so hot that some of those rescues were most likely girls faking it to grab his attention. But later we will learn (or will be told at least) that all of those long days above the water gave him not just a unique perspective on the natural forces but also the faculties to make such intellectual leaps regarding the development of the international security situation. Would it be believable?

Then we see Reagan when he is losing his movie star sparkle and is getting divorced from Jane Wyman (Mena Suvari). He is reduced to the status of a commercial actor, meanwhile engaging in a campaign to lead stars against Communists in Hollywood. This is how he met actress Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller), who later became his exceptionally devoted spouse. In a short time, he enters into active politics, is elected as the Governor, and runs for the presidency. And apparently introduced trickle-down economics though in reality, it (1) was the brainchild of economist Arthur Laffer and (2) has been established time and time again to be, to put it mildly, nonsense.

Quaid does well with Reagan, his mannerisms and intonations, and the scenes with Miller have a credible aura of their love and marriage. As I said, the film exaggerates his talent and successes, the Iran Contra affair gets underscored, and other several setbacks are completely ignored. Reagan’s reaction to the Iran-Contra affair is no different from a sentence one would use to describe a stern and disinterested parent’s attitude towards their child’s neglected pet fish and its exploitation throughout the narrative: “Oops.” At times it is so ridiculous that it recalls the “Mastermind” skit from Saturday Night Live where a not-so-secretly brilliant and clued-in Reagan is played by Phil Hartman. There is plenty of ground to cover in addressing the theme of Reagan’s presidency, placed currently 16th in a ranking by the participants of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey. We would love to get a more in-depth analysis of his policies regarding how he managed to be savagely dubbed as ‘the great communicator’, instead, the film has sadly poor knowledge of both history and the man.

For More Movies Like Reagan on 123Movies

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top