If you knew little or nothing about Ronald Reagan and you were to form your opinion of our 40th president on the content of the hagiographic “Reagan,” you would come away believing he single-handedly saved the Screen Actors Guild from being overrun by communists, was the most loving husband this side of George Bailey, was always the most charming man in any room, and sailed through eight majestic years in office with only a whiff of scandal or setback.
Not to say there isn’t a measure of validity in at least some of those assessments, but the truth is more subtle and debatable than what director Sean McNamara puts forth in “Reagan,” which was adapted by Howard Klausner from Paul Kengor’s book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” This is a competently made film with decent cinematography and production design, and the casting is never less than ... interesting, but it favors a simplistic approach and a narrative that verges on adoration. I mean, we actually see Ronald Reagan riding off into the sunset in this movie.
A lacquer-haired, rosy-cheeked Dennis Quaid looks and sounds like Dennis Quaid impersonating Ronald Reagan in the title role, as “Reagan” opens in March of 1981 with a re-creation of the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.
The story then shifts to “Moscow, Russia, Present Day,” and this is where the film makes the curious choice of having a fictional, retired KGB officer named Viktor Ivanov (Jon Voight, with a borderline cartoonish Russian accent) act as the de facto narrator of the film. A young, up-and coming Russian politician (Alex Sparrow) visits Ivanov to gain an understanding of how the Soviet Union collapsed, and as it conveniently turns out, Ivanov devoted much of his career to following and studying the life of one Ronald Reagan, and he believes studying Reagan is the key to deciphering how the Americans defeated communism.
“To understand what made his man unique, I needed to understand the boy,” says Ivanov, and that’s the cue for a flashback to young Ronnie (played by Tommy Ragen as a boy and David Henrie as a teenager) growing up in Dixon, Illinois, and off we go on a sweeping epic that spans the entirely of Reagan’s life, unlike many recent historical biopics that concentrate on one specific and vital period. (As Ivanov guides us through the decades, some of his observation are howlers, e.g., “As they say in America, Brezhnev’s mind was blown.”)
We travel with Reagan through his time as a young actor (Mena Suvari briefly appears as his first wife, Jane Wyman) and as the vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild and hey, there’s Kevin Dillon as Jack L. Warner, who takes Ronnie aside and warns that the communists “are not just talking strike, they’re talking about taking over ALL the unions.” No chance of that, not with Reagan leading the stand against the Soviets and first realizing he could be more than actor.
Soon we’re in the 1960s with Reagan’s career waning as he’s reduced to playing a second-rate comedy venue in Las Vegas and doing TV commercials for a wide variety of products ranging from Chesterfield’s cigarettes to Palmolive After Shaving Talc to V-8 to “Icee, the coldest drink in town.” By the time we hear “Wild Thing” by the Troggs on the soundtrack, Reagan is ensconced in a loving marriage with the former Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller), switching political parties and winning the governorship of California.
Once we get to Reagan’s presidency, the film focuses primarily on his leadership in the Cold War, which leads to a truly funny medley of funerals for Soviet leaders who dropped dead in rapid fashion in the 1980s and the president quipping, “How can I talk to them if they keep dying on me?” Reagan is depicted as an inspirational leader (and rightfully so) when he delivers his historic speech in West Berlin in 1987 and exclaims, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” (There’s also nary a scene without a recognizable face playing a real-life figure, whether it’s Lesley-Anne Down as Margaret Thatcher, Dan Lauria as Tip O’Neill or, yes, that’s Jennifer O’Neill as Ronald’s mom Nelle in her later years.)
Iran-Contra is covered, but there’s nothing of substance about other scandals, including the Reagan administration essentially ignoring the AIDS crisis for years, his use of “the welfare queen” trope or his mixed record on gay rights. Of course, you can’t cover everything in one movie, but the scales are tipped greatly in Reagan’s favor. (“Reagan” does acknowledge criticism of the president on a number of issues via a medley of images and video set to “Land of Confusion” by Genesis, but it’s a montage that lasts about 90 seconds in a 135-minute movie.)
Reagan’s final years are handled briefly and with grace. By that time we’re thinking that while someday, somebody might make a great movie or streaming series that truly and thoroughly explores the complexities of the uniquely American story of Ronald Reagan, it has not yet happened.
