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Like many people, my wife and I don’t frequent movies as often as in the past. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services, it is just a matter of time until a movie can be watched from the comfort of our home for a fraction of the price and without taking out a home equity loan to buy popcorn.
We planned to do so with Reagan a biography of our 40th President who by force of his personality, ended the Cold War without a shot being fired.
But when vicious liberal reviewers savaged the movie, and the man himself, we felt it was necessary to see the movie as a sign of solidarity. We believe that this great man is the reason we do not live under barbarous Communism. At least not yet.
And these critics were vicious.
Robert Abale of the Los Angeles Times states: “But here he’s [Reagan portrayer Dennis Quaid] just an imitation puppet, the high-wattage shell masking a hollow portrait tailor-made for religious conservatives with a thin grasp of history and no tolerance for nuance.”
Nick Schager of the forever-whining web site, The Daily Beast, wrote: “McNamara’s [the director] film is so ungainly and transparent that it plays like embarrassing propaganda” and “the worst movie of the year.”
Boston Herald Sean Burns movie critic rhapsodized: “a children’s story for the adult diaper set.”
When a constellation of arrogant liberals trashes a movie, you know it must be an outstanding, which Reagan is.
The movie starts out with a retired KGB agent (played competently by Jon Voight) - who had been assigned to assess Reagan - being interviewed by a young frustrated Russian politician who wonders how Russia lost its empire.
This is dramatic license. The character portrayed by Voight never existed, although multiple Russian agents trying to infiltrate the American political system had Reagan on their radar since he crushed a Communist attempted takeover of the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) while he was its president.
The movie flashes back and forth from Reagan’s childhood and teenage years dwelling on his religious mother, his alcoholic father and his teenage years as a lifeguard, where he saved multiple lives. His good looks and natural talent brought him to Hollywood where he acted in sixty-five movies, multiple commercials and became a host for General Electric Theater.
But he never reached the superstar status of Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart or Carey Grant. Whether this was due a lack of talent or his obsession with Hollywood politics is left for the viewer to decide. But this frustration did destroy his first marriage to fellow actress Jane Wyman.
He then married another actress, Nancy Davis, who if the movie is to be believed, simply adored him and dedicated herself to his wish – which was to become the politician who crushed Communism. In fact, the fictional KGB character portrayed by Voight nicknames him “The Crusader” because of this obsession.
His ascent to California Governor and President is chronicled, including snippets of his debates with Carter and Mondale. And the most poignant scene of the movie is when Tip O’Neill (the Democratic House Speaker at the time) visits Reagan at the hospital after the assassination attempt and they recite the 23rd Psalm together.
But the movie really shines when it portrays his refusal to cave to Gorbachev and discontinue SDI (the Strategic Defense Initiative). Eventually, the Soviet Union collapses while Reagan rides off into the sunset, a victim of Alzheimer’s.
If there is one criticism of the movie, it does not portray how much the liberal press despised him. Newsweek columnist Meg Greenfield wondered how anyone could take him seriously. The Press screeched he did not do enough to stop the AIDS crisis, as if Reagan could stop young gays from having hundreds of sexual partners a year. And the Press was apoplectic when he called the Soviet Union “The Evil Empire” believing the best way to handle the Communist malignancy was by groveling appeasement.
But for the time being, we live in peace because this great man stood up to the Communists, greatly decreasing the chance of a nuclear war and freeing millions of Eastern Europeans from this gruesome ideology. Thank you Ronaldus Magnus.
Reagan Movie Reviews Cited:
