I have to start by stating that I grew up in the UK so my knowledge of Ronald Reagan is very slim. However, I love Dennis Quaid, and when I saw that some other actors I like such as Jon Voight and Mena Suvari were in the movie I decided to check it out. Let me tell you if you already loved Ronald Reagan before you saw this movie, you are going to go nuts for this!
How to Download Reagan
Reagan was released on August 30, 2024. You can expect to be able to download or stream the film from a digital platform such as Amazon Prime Video after 45 days from this date. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability.
The Movie Review
What we have here is a biopic that takes us from his childhood all the way to his death. I have seen some biopics like the recent Bob Marley one, One Love that focus on a specific time. Reagan does not do this and instead tries to give us the entire life of this man! We see him as a kid dealing with his troubled father all the way to his battle with Alzheimer’s in his later years.
Ronald Reagan’s Early Life and Hollywood Career
We get his days as an actor and his various romances. I found the stuff with him as an actor and starting out his career in politics to be the most interesting part of the movie. You know I actually think there is a movie in just focusing on his career as an actor and him becoming the president of the Screen Actors Guild and all the other stuff that he did as an actor.
Cold War Tensions and Political Ascent
We also get his tensions with the Soviet Union. As a lover of 80s action movies, I grew up with the “Ruskis” being the bad guys in many of these movies so this was kind of interesting to see where much of that came from. Coming in at a little bit over two hours, the movie does rush over many parts of the man’s life, but to be fair I get that. It never focusses on one part too long and as a result, I can certainly not say that the movie is boring.
Dennis Quaid’s Performance as Ronald Reagan
Dennis Quaid gives a fantastic performance and for the most part, I found him to be very likable. Being from the UK, I got a kick out of the portrayal of Maggie Thatcher by Lesley-Anne Down. In all, the whole cast does a solid job here and delivers believable performances, but with the movie moving so fast, you never get to truly take any of the major stuff in.
Final Thoughts on Reagan
At the end of the day, I came into Reagan without any kind of political bias as I am not from the USA. However, from what I have seen, this movie is very political in that those who are Republicans love it and those on the other side love to trash-talk the movie. I cannot speak for the historical accuracy, but as a “movie” it at the very least is entertaining.
Yet, if you are someone who grew up thinking that Ronal Reagan is not the saint that this movie portrays him as for like 95 percent of it, I guess this could be a bit hard to stomach. If you do not like Ronald Reagan, do not watch this movie as you will not like it, it is as simple as that. If you do like him, chances are you will really like it. For me, it was ok, but probably not something I would watch again.
