Why watch the movie REAGAN
A sweeping drama with refreshing surprises
Movie review of REAGAN.
My husband and I recently saw the new movie REAGAN. The commercials leading to the film’s release showed many crucial, memorable moments in Ronald Reagan’s life and presidency, especially his famous demand, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
As a child during Reagan’s presidency, I remember the day we learned our music teacher was crying because Reagan had been shot. As a college student, I remember visiting the Berlin Wall five months before it came down and the Soviet Union collapsed. Years later when I found myself commenting about different U. S. presidencies on the Fox News Channel, I read Reagan's autobiography. Much of his autobiography is displayed in this film.
One of the challenges in making a biopic film like REAGAN is that many in the viewing audience know how the story ends. When you know the outcome, it erases the inherent tension of a story. REAGAN addresses this problem by moving quickly in a pass-the-baton kind-of-way--swiftly switching scenes from Reagan to news footage to the narrator, etc. The story effectively uses nuance to avoid on-the-nose dialogue.
Surprises in REAGAN
Soviet character
Two story features surprised me about REAGAN. First, the filmmakers used a Soviet spy as a narrator, which was a surprising twist and kept the story intriguing. The special-effects makeup on actor Jon Voight playing a Soviet spy deserves an Oscar.
Faith
Second, the filmmakers reflected on Reagan's faith, showing his mother's influence on Reagan's belief that God had a purpose for his life.
There's also a prophetic moment in the film, where a minister prophecies that Reagan will live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue one day. I am really glad the filmmakers included faith as a theme because I recently saw a great Fox Nation series about George Washington's role in the French and Indian War but it missed an opportunity to highlight authentic faith. During a battle in what is now Pittsburgh, four bullets pierced Washington's uniform and two horses were shot from under him, yet he remained unharmed. As I wrote in Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War, Washington credited Providence for saving his life. The upcoming movie, The American Miracle will reveal this and other miracles. Reagan likewise recognized that he survived the assassination attempt on his life in March 1981 for a higher purpose.
Reagan's faith was authentic and simple. He had a righteous purpose to defeat communism. One of my goals as a writer of history is to include a person's faith where it is authentic and impacts the person's journey. I purposefully included the faith of Louisa and John Quincy Adams in my book American Phoenix. I also used faith as a theme through Dolley Madison's Quaker upbringings in my book, The Burning of the White House. Dolley was raised as an anti-war Quaker but she was married to a wartime president, James Madison. This presented a challenging internal struggle for her. REAGAN's faith theme resonates because of the recent assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Dennis Quaid also does a great job of capturing Reagan’s essence, especially his mannerisms and voice. I sometimes have trouble accepting a known actor’s portrayal of a historical character. Although a well-known actor draws in viewers, sometimes it backfires. For example, I recently watched FRANKLIN on Apple Plus and couldn’t get past seeing Michael Douglass instead of seeing Ben Franklin. But Quaid portrays Reagan with nuance. Seeing this movie in the theaters helps with suspending reality, versus watching it at home with distractions.
REAGAN's Resonance Today
The REAGAN movie also speaks to Americans today. A major theme is anti-communism. Reagan was a crusader against communism after he realized that the Soviets were trying to turn America into a communist country from the inside out, including recruiting actors in Hollywood. Both DEI and CRT, which dominate universities and Hollywood today, have their roots in communist ideology.
Likewise, Americans seem very hungry today to feel good about their country again, not unlike 1980 when Americans voted for Reagan the first time and again in 1984 when Reagan won in a landslide.
It’s also important to support movies like REAGAN because success paves the way for producing similar films. It’s time for the film industry to recognize that people want to see heroes and heroines who love their country and are willing to put their lives on the line for it.