It seems hard to believe, but there has never been a feature-length film on Ronald Reagan, who impacted the lives of more people worldwide than any U.S. chief executive, living or deceased. Now, that omission has been rectified by a brilliant film from the able hands of the director Sean McNamara, who gives us a stunningly cinematic and exciting tour of Reagan’s tumultuous (in a good way) life in the film “Reagan.”
Our guide for the film is Viktor Petrovich, a semi-fictional former KGB agent tasked to explain the seeming contradictions in Reagan’s life. Played by Academy Award-winner Jon Voight in a role similar to that played by Alec Guinness in “Dr. Zhivago,” Petrovich provides a perspective on Reagan that escaped many in the West.
Even devoted Reaganites may have forgotten his rise from small-town Illinois obscurity to glamorous fame as a Hollywood hunk. He was so breathtakingly handsome that as soon as he arrived in Hollywood, the hottest movie stars like Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Doris Day, and Betty Grable battled with each other to date him.
In his decades-long acting career, he made more than 50 films and starred in TV shows and documentaries. He lived the comfortable L.A. life (when it was possible to live comfortably in L.A.), married, divorced, and found Nancy, who became a partner so inseparable that not even their children could see any space between them. McNamara adroitly sets a sure pace through these events that tell emotional stories about young Reagan struggling with his father’s alcoholism and being comforted by a consoling mother who instills the belief in him that he has a great destiny before him. Even as a star, the film deftly shows that Hollywood fame was not fulfilling that destiny, surely a fate many would have been happy to accept.
It takes three actors to tell this story. The leading role is played by the established star Dennis Quaid, who captures Reagan’s sunny optimism and humor that cloaks an iron and irresolute will. Was Reagan destined to be president? A scene involving Pat Boone provides haunting evidence that higher powers were at work in Reagan’s unlikely rise to the presidency. The key to Reagan, the man, was a calm demeanor with a sense of resolution. This seeming unawareness made many observers think he was somehow uninvolved in the significant issues of the day. As Quaid illustrates, this is dispelled when Reagan’s “Tear Down this Wall” speech was delivered with power and passion that changed the world.
Quaid, an accomplished horseman, is brilliant in the scenic horseback riding scenes at Rancho Del Cielo high above Santa Barbra and provides one of the film’s most sanguine emotional punches that will leave many in tears. One struggles to imagine another actor delivering such an athletic and dramatic scene as the one provided by Quaid (sorry, Kevin Costner.)
Reagan’s life story is so compelling that only 50 minutes of the two-hour drama concern his presidency. Characters like Frank Sinatra, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Margret Thatcher roll through the film in a panoply of pageantry that illuminates the era. Nancy Reagan was Ronald’s life co-star and is portrayed willfully by Penelope Ann Miller.
Director McNamara is quick to point out that the film is not a hagiography and does not shy away from the Iran-Contra affair or Reagan’s stumbles confronting the AIDS crisis. What emerges is a relatable flawed human, not a remote plaster saint.
The label “political film” perhaps may turn many people off, but Reagan is undoubtedly much more than “just” a political flick. Many of the truly great films are about political lives: Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” D.W. Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln,” John Ford’s “Young Mr. Lincoln,” Alan J. Pakula’s “All the President’s Men,” Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” Michael Ritchie’s “The Candidate,” and Hal Ashby’s “Being There” are among the films that have won numerous awards and performed well at the box office.
Reagan is a worthy nominee to join this august list. You should see it to understand how one of the most influential people in history shaped your world. Almost 25 years ago, The New York Times said that the world would “probably remember Reagan as a giant who reflected the Zeitgeist of his era and hastened its destiny.” We are now living that destiny.
The “Reagan” film opens on Aug. 30 in theaters nationwide.
