REAGAN Preaches To The Converted

REAGAN (Blu-ray)

2024 / 135 min

FROM LIONSGATE

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

Reagan practically depicts its subject like he’s a messiah, where everything he touches turns to FREEDOM. Basically a love letter to the 40th president and those who continue to deify him, the movie is a pandering hybrid of propaganda and gushing adulation. If nothing else, the movie knows its audience.

For 135 minutes, Reagan (Dennis Quaid) can do no wrong, particularly when dealing with those pesky Russians. Even as president of the Screen Actors Guild, his testimony for the FBI, fingering peers as communists, is considered a heroic act. Anti-communism continues to be an ongoing theme throughout the film, driving Reagan’s presidency. He’s shown singlehandedly saving the free world from Russia’s insidious plans of world domination and rescuing the U.S. economy by virtue of his iron will. 

Conversely, the more questionable aspects of Reagan’s presidency are simply summed up with a brief music montage consisting of stock footage and newspaper headlines. The lone exception is the Iran-Contra scandal. But even then, his address to the nation - clarifying his involvement - is depicted as yet-another triumph. Throughout the entire film, the conflicts and complexities of his presidency are presented in simplistic us-versus-them terms. And at no point is Reagan himself portrayed as anything less than a republication Superman...stoic, noble and righteous.

"My fellow Americans...in the interest of transparency, I hereby announce I'm not wearing pants."

But Reagan’s blatant nationalism and one-sided history aren’t the real problem. Politics aside, this is a shockingly bad movie and a poor excuse for a biography. Its subject is never explored in any depth and we learn little beyond his ambition and patriotism. Hell, even legendary liberal Oliver Stone instilled Nixon & George W with some complexity. You’d think any movie idolizing Ronald Reagan would try to do the same. As for Quaid… I suppose if you squint real hard he sorta resembles Reagan, but his performance comes across like a comedian’s impersonation. 

The supporting characters are even more broadly drawn, essentially one-note caricatures (some played by a who’s-who of notable right-wingers, including Jon Voight, Pat Boone, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Davi, not to mention Quaid himself). Still, I have to grudgingly admit Voight is actually quite good in his role as former Soviet spy Viktor Petrovich, who also narrates the film.

Elsewhere, Reagan looks cheap and small, with terrible make-up work and some clumsy CGI in an attempt to make everything seem more epic. John Cada’s score is filled with overbearing emotive crescendos every time Reagan says or does something inspiring. And speaking of inspiring, the film frequently evokes the tone and aesthetic of the recent spate of Christian films that have made waves among the church crowd. Like many of those movies, Reagan may be filled with good intentions, but its message and themes are handled with the subtlety of a mallet.

But the biggest crime? At no point is Reagan emotionally engaging. It’s just an interminable checklist of events with a ton of exposition provided by characters who are difficult invest in. Even Reagan’s detractors bent on rage-watching the film will likely end-up more bored than incensed. As for its intended audience, Reagan will confirm their unconditional admiration for the man, but I suspect even some of them might feel he deserved better than this.