Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 10, originally released October 2, 2024.
I’m a bit of history buff. I'm a sucker for a good biopic. I like Dennis Quaid. It’s no wonder, then, that I headed to theaters to take a peak at Reagan, the biography of the 40th president of the United States, starring Quaid in the title role.
As indicated in the film’s trailer, Quaid nailed his Reagan impersonation. In fact the argument could be made he was a little bit too good—that his impression may have bordered on an SNL-type comedic parody. I would counter, however, that Reagan is so well known and his mannerisms and diction are so well documented that any actor who didn't lean into the impersonation and go “whole hog,” as we say in the South, probably would have come off as inauthentic.
Also in this movie is Jon Voight, who, even as an octogenarian, is still one of the greatest actors working today. He has not lost a step. Voight plays a Russian agent who is reportedly an amalgam of several different historical figures. But, as good of an acting job as Voight delivers, the character is wholly superfluous to the picture. Yet it's through this character that the entire film is framed.
The film opens with Voight’s character narrating the life of Reagan to a modern-day, up-and-coming Russian politician—which is an incredibly weird framing. The narration from Voight’s character continues throughout the movie, making for a lot of telling instead of showing—generally not a recipe for a great piece a visual media (unless it's a genre like film noir that lends itself to voiceover narration).
Beginning with that framing, the movie sets out on a bit of an off note, with the rest of the movie (mostly) following suit.
Most of the remaining cast also fails to perform at the level of Quaid and Voight, with Penelope Ann Miller turning in a particularly disappointing portrayal of Nancy Reagan. Although a 40-year veteran of the screen, Miller’s acting comes off inexcusably melodramatic—very Lifetime or Hallmark Channel original.
The same is true for most of the dialogue. Again, much showing instead of telling. There was also quite a bit of direct address. What I do I mean? Well, whenever characters addressed each other, they would call the name of the person that they were addressing—in every sentence. Example: If Quaid and Miller were talking to each other in character, Quaid would often say, "Well, blah, blah, blah, Nancy," to which Miller would reply, "Well, yada, yada, yada, Ron.” That isn’t natural dialogue. While 70 years ago, so much direct address may have been acceptable outside of parody, by today's standards, it’s usually a mark of poor writing—heavy-handed and amateurish.
It's particularly jarring, too, because, when the dialogue incorporates famous quotations from Reagan during historical reenactment scenes, it works. It works because it's real life. It's what actually happened. It's what was actually said. But when the dialogue dips out of historical record and into scripted “Hollywood” lines, it's simply clunky.
Although there isn't anything in the cinematography or directing that necessarily elevates Reagan above “middle-of-the-road” cinema, it is, nevertheless, competently shot by director Sean McNamara and DP Christian Sebaldt. In other words, the film does not have a “made-for-TV” look; visually, it is genuinely cinematic.
I think the film would have been better if it had been a documentary—but with Quaid, surrounded by high-caliber actors, hired to recreate some of the pivotal moments in Reagan's life and presidency. It wouldn’t have made as much money because documentaries just don't perform well at the box office. (In fact, it probably would have been a TV release if presented in documentary form.) But it almost certainly would have been a higher quality piece of art and entertainment.
It's the opposite of The Men Who Built America, a spectacular docuseries from the History Channel that incorporated reenactment scenes with a no-name cast. The scripted scenes were done so well that it left the viewer wishing the whole thing had been a scripted narrative series instead of a hybrid docudrama. With Reagan, however, I find myself wishing the film were less scripted narrative and more standard documentary.
How has the film been received? Well, critics pretty much universally hate it, while the people that have seen it even more universally love it. At the time of this writing, the Rotten Tomatoes scores sit at 18% critic and 98% audience, the kind of gaping disparity we've seen a lot in recent years. If we dig into these ratings, we see it's divided sharply along political lines: The critics hate it because of its politics; the audience loves it because of its politics. The political element, however, isn't something I look for when determining a film’s quality.
So, what does the film have going for it? A couple of great performances. A few really good scenes. It's shot competently. But then, almost every other element falls flat.
Therefore, I give this an objective quality rating of 5/10. Right in the middle of the pack. Mediocre.
But because I like biographies, histories, Quaid and Voight, I would probably give this a personal enjoyment rating a little bit higher at 6/10. (Also, the end of the picture delves into the twilight of Reagan's life with his Alzheimer's diagnosis, and as someone who lost a family member to that awful disease, I thought it was handled exceptionally well, showing what it does to the patient, to the family. It really hit me on a personal level.)
Is it worth your time? Based on my own experience with the movie and what I'm seeing from critics and audiences, if you like this type of political biography or if you're a fan of Ronald Reagan specifically, see the movie. You'll probably love it. If you're looking for something that's a little bit more elevated artistically, a little bit better made piece of cinema, you’ll probably want to skip this one.
What do you think? Have you seen Reagan? If not, are you planning to see it? Let us know in the comments or send an email to randommindrecords @ yahoo.com.
Cole Powell is an arts and media commentator and award-winning singer/songwriter from Jayess, Mississippi, USA. Powell holds degrees in computer technology and liberal arts and sciences and wants to be a comic book artist when he grows up and learns to draw.