‘Reagan’ is a Scattered Telling of an Iconic President

Reagan

★ ½

I find myself scratching my head at the approach to this film. While it tells the story of Ronald Reagan from childhood to the end of his life, it does so in scattered, melodramatic scenes that come onto screen in which an actor or actress will approach another actor or actress and start talking about a situation as if we’ve already seen or know what happened beforehand. These scenes sort of burst through the door without the setup required for them to work or have heavy emotional gravitas they’re intended to have.

It wouldn’t surprise me if even the most astute Reagan historian found this approach hard to settle in and follow the film’s narrative.

That is, if this film had a narrative. It doesn’t.

Ronald and Nancy Reagan
© 2024 ShowBiz Direct

The one thread holding Reagan together is a mostly voiceover narrative that comes from ex-KGB agent nationalist Viktor Petrovich (John Voight) as he tells an emerging nationalist the story of how the 40th President of the United States came to be and how he recognized – from watching Reagan over the years – the threat he would be to the former Soviet Union.

As the film switches between scenes, the filmmakers call upon Viktor to tell us what’s going on. But we wouldn’t need that had they chosen to tell a dramatic story about Ronald Reagan from his perspective to give us an insight as to what his life was like and what might have ultimately motivated his most iconic – and historic – actions as President.

I like John Voight as an actor and admire his career. Telling Reagan from Viktor’s perspective is unnecessary, and I’m completely puzzled why they chose to make the film this way. Viktor’s narrative mostly serves to pull us from Reagan’s story rather than add to it.

Reagan rides with his Secret Service agent
© 2024 ShowBiz Direct

The first one-third of this film bounces back and forth between the present and Reagan’s past so much it’s like listening to a confused storyteller. In many ways, that’s exactly what’s going on here. Viktor tells his listener, “…but first I need to tell you about Reagan the lifeguard.” Or Reagan the “this” or “that.” Back and forth.

The scenes jump among poignant events in Reagan’s life. Because the film jumps around so much, scenes start so abruptly you can almost hear the faint echo of the director shouting “action” just before they begin. The scenes often begin in the middle of an event and seems to rely on the audience’s immediate awareness of their significance.

I wanted to enjoy Dennis Quaid’s portrayal of Reagan much more than I did. I feel like he did a fine job in his performance, and there were times I truly forgot I was watching someone else play Dutch. But this is where a messy film diminishes individual performances.

There are some good actors in this film. Penelope Ann Miller does a fine job as Nancy Reagan, when she’s allowed enough time with the character in the scene. Lesley-Anne Down portrayed Margaret Thatcher convincingly. I enjoyed Xander Berkeley’s performance as Secretary of State George Shultz. Mark Moses was great as William Clark, Reagan’s Deputy Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and Secretary of the Interior.

There could have been wonderful chemistry with these actors and the figures they represent. Unfortunately, when chemistry does start to build, we cut to another important moment in Reagan’s story.

“Tear down this wall”
© 2024 ShowBiz Direct

There are some visual effects that are certainly meant to be very hidden. For example, the de-aging CGI used on Quad as Reagan in his younger years were unconvincing and looked strangely unnatural. It easily pulled me out of several scenes.

We are not given Reagan’s dramatic story. We are given glimpses of scenes in his life and snippets of his most important moments. Because of how they’re presented, the natural dramatic nature of these scenes often come off as forced.

I know many people who admire Reagan will enjoy a lot of nostalgic scenes. There are moments when this film started to give us an emotional connection. But it then moves on to something else.

The actors deserved a better script. There was a good movie somewhere in the source material: Paul Kengor’s 2006 book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” I’m astounded at how the filmmakers failed to find it.

Ronald Reagan deserved a much, much better film.

Biography, Drama