"Reagan" an American Hero and Transformative Person

The movie effectively winds together the many threads of his life

“Reagan” is based on a great book by historian Paul Kengor, The Crusader. I admit, I wish the movie had been based on my biography, Reagan: The American President, but can readily see how Kengor’s themed story made for a better script.

Finding the right actor for Dutch was always important for me. At least one television mini-drama failed. I had qualms about Dennis Quaid’s voice before I saw the movie. But once you get a few minutes in, you can see Reagan in his portrayal. Above all, he got Reagan’s mannerisms and the pacing of his talk.

Like all movies today—-it’s an epidemic—-directors just can’t let go and make movies too long. As good as this was, it would have been much better at 30 minutes shorter. There were way too many panning shots of Washington, D.C., the Ranch, and so on.

Nevertheless, there is still a very good movie here. The cast is excellent, particularly Penelope Ann Miller as Nancypants (as Dutch called her), Jon Voight as the central storyteller, former KGB officer Viktor Petrovich, Kevin Sorbo as Rev. Weaver, Dan Lauria as Tip O’Neill, Robert Davi as Brezhnev, and my favorite (but a small part), Kevin Dillon as Jack Warner.

The story is told through the recollections of Petrovich, who attempts to answer why Russia—-having been world-feared and the equal of the USA—-fell. Voight is excellent, leading the young man through Reagan’s life, which he followed from an early point.

It is hard for modern Americans to grasp that unlike almost any other politician, save Donald Trump, Reagan did not one, but many notable things in his life outside his roles as governor and president. He was a lifeguard who saved 77 people from drowning on the Rock River; he was a radio broadcaster; obviously he was an actor, but also vice president then president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, where he fought (literally) a battle with the communists under Herb Sorrell trying to take over SAG as a part of the Soviets’ silent invasion.

The film takes in all of these elements of Reagan’s life, including probably his lowest moment when he had a failed Las Vegas night club act. It deftly leaves out some of his less than legendary exploits as well: At one point when he was dating Nancy, he was also dating as many as 23 other major actresses, including Ann Southern. Thus, the movie does not mention Nancy’s ferocious pursuit of her Ronnie. It barely mentions his children.

But likely that is because, given the narrative of the Soviet intelligence officer, the overall focus remained on the war between godless communism and the West, led by America.

Reagan is correctly portrayed as mostly crafting his own speeches and including material (“evil empire”, SDI) that no one in his cabinet supported. At times, even Nancy opposed the language. But Reagan, it turns out, knew his enemy better than they did.

George Schultz, portrayed by Xander Berkley, was appropriately dealt with. Schultz, an agnostic to Reagan’s “evil empire” ideology, slowly was brought on board. For the most part, he had the Gipper’s back.

The best scenes are those with Reagan and Gorbachev, expertly played by Olek Krupa. In its definitive scenes, Gorbachev learned that he could trust Reagan to be honest, but likewise found he wouldn’t be bullied.

There are some comedic scenes, including the period in which the USSR went through three different Premiers/General Secretaries and which led Reagan to quip, “I want to talk to the Soviets but they keep dying on me!”

As I expected—-and girded myself for—-starting at about the last 30 minutes it’s one emotional blow after another. The “Tear Down This Wall” speech, followed by the riding incident in which John Barletta, his Secret Service riding partner told Nancy (after the Alzheimer’s diagnosis), “he shouldn’t be riding any more.” But Nancy couldn’t tell Dutch. “You have to do it,” she told Barletta, placing a selfish and unfair burden on a man assigned to guard the president. Those scenes to the end are simply put tear jerkers. Stay for the credits. Scenes of Reagan’s funeral procession, of people paying their respects at the Capitol ceremony including Gorbachev and Thatcher, and the final funeral ceremony turn the waterworks up further. Finally, as the last credits roll, the director, Sean McNamara, treats us to a snapshot life of the greatest president of the 20th Century.A-

Larry Schweikart

Rock drummer, Film maker,NYTimes #1 bestselling author

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