Ah, yes, the American ’80s. Chock-full of leather jackets, yuppies, and Aqua Net-drenched hairdos, it’s easy to forget that in the midst of all its vibrant consumerism, the era was punctuated by some of the most significant political moments in the country’s history — the AIDS crisis, Iran-Contra, and the eleventh hour of the Cold War, to name a few. Sean McNamara’s “REAGAN,” regrettably, manages to forget nearly all of the above, hairspray and synth riffs included.
As one might expect, the film follows former president Ronald Reagan (Dennis Quaid) through the ups and downs of his life, from his all-American childhood to the Oval Office. According to the official “REAGAN” website, it is a “cinematic journey of overcoming the odds” that “transcends the boundaries of a traditional biopic.” If you consider littering a movie with so much archival footage that it feels more like a museum exhibit video than a biographical drama, then sure, consider the boundaries transcended!
What “REAGAN” absolutely does not do is deliver a cohesive narrative journey — and to be fair, that’s a lot to ask from director Sean McNamara, whose notable previous credits include “Bratz” and “3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain.” McNamara’s sole qualification for the job is that he helped film Reagan’s presidential inauguration in 1981 and was one of the few seasoned directors drawn to the “REAGAN” project, which ultimately took 14 years to film, produce, and release (largely due to the struggle of finding people interested in funding it, as producer Mark Joseph told Newsweek).
The consequence of pairing a middling script with a director most familiar with filming direct-to-DVD kiddie-flicks is a movie that feels more like a superhero origin story than a true appreciation of Reagan’s legacy. Creative choices ranging from juvenile to bizarre run rampant: five time-skips occur within the first 15 minutes of the film, the score (provided by John Coda — also of “3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain” fame) cornily swoops and soars to let audiences know exactly when Reagan is about to have a mic drop moment, and characters are introduced by giant walls of text rather than easing into the plot naturally. The lack of ’80s music, save for one “Genesis” song, is downright appalling, considering that a well-timed ’80s jam can make any lighthearted montage (which this movie has no shortage of) enjoyable. I know there was money in the budget for licensing thanks to the onslaught of crooner ballads in the film’s pre-presidential portion: Did nobody suggest adding a song with a bassline to inject a little life into this political drama?
One of the strangest elements of “REAGAN,” however, is that it is inexplicably narrated by Viktor Petrovich (Jon Voight), a fictional ex-KGB agent who claims not only that Reagan singlehandedly toppled the Soviet Union, but that Russian intelligence predicted he would do so back in the ’40s, two decades before he was even registered as a Republican. Historical inaccuracy and embarrassingly bad accent aside, Petrovich also goes off on several tangents about “Mother Russia,” Tolstoy and Soviet culture that, while somehow more compelling than most of the movie, feel incredibly out of place.
Speaking of historical inaccuracies, this film is full of them! Defining events of the Reagan administration, most notably the AIDS crisis and the literal reshaping of the Republican Party, don’t exist as far as “REAGAN” is concerned. Even positive accomplishments, such as the appointment of the first female Supreme Court Justice, are omitted to ensure that every second possible is dedicated to one thing: the Cold War.
If this movie wants you to have one takeaway, it’s that the mighty Ronald Reagan single-handedly brought the Soviet Union to its knees (he didn’t, actually). Reagan was certainly a key player in its collapse, but his Captain America-adjacent portrayal here is laughably exaggerated, with dialogue frequently implying he was chosen by God to defeat the “evil” communists. Subtle! Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced in the last act of the movie, twiddles his thumbs for a bit and then has a big argument with Reagan where he proves that non-Americans know how to give witty one-liners too. Two minutes later, the Berlin Wall is torn down.
After that happens, the movie runs out of Reagan moments to glamorize, and we are treated to one final time skip in which the Alzheimer’s-afflicted president literally rides into the sunset on a white stallion. No, I am not joking, and yes, horse-riding is mentioned more than the Iran-Contra affair.
Pacing problems are a glaring issue of this film — Reagan’s first presidential campaign is given less screen time than his first date with Nancy. Far too much screen time is given to Nancy in general, because every attempt to make the Ronald-Nancy romance relevant and heartwarming is thwarted by the production team’s inability to write female characters properly. There are at least three scenes that consist of Nancy telling her husband not to do something, him doing it anyway, and her shaking her head while saying “That’s my Ronnie!” or something along those lines. The “REAGAN” website does emphasize its efforts to showcase Nancy’s love and support of her husband — unfortunately, love and support are the only things Nancy gets to do in all 135 minutes of the movie.
While critics have found “REAGAN” to be nothing more than a self-indulgent puff piece, it has received stellar audience ratings from its right-wing audiences. Hundreds of viewers have left comments lauding the film and its portrayal of Reagan, with the sentiment of “Republican pride” being a recurring theme. The timeliness of the biopic’s release (delayed from 2021) could very well be an effort to mobilize older conservative voters — though as far as I can tell, the only people excited by this movie are ones who were planning to vote Republican anyway.
What you get with “REAGAN” is a grotesque hodgepodge of all the traits that makes American politics nauseating: false promises, Hollywood showboating, the rewriting of history, and of course, bad acting. It fails to be good cinema, it fails to be good propaganda; truly, the only thing “REAGAN” succeeds at is making me crave a biopic of the 40th president that actually bothers to teach me something.
