Forget French body horror or the return of Francis Ford Coppola: real heads know the cinematic event of 2024 was this star-studded retelling of the life of REAGAN. With experienced director Sean McNamara at the helm (ON A WING AND A PRAYER, BRATZ, THE EVEN STEVENS MOVIE) we at Boys’ Bible Study were confident this film’s depiction of Ronald Reagan would be respectful and thorough. Besides, many Americans are gearing up to vote in the most consequential election of our lifetimes, so it felt only right to review REAGAN and look back at the political values we cherish from our recent past as inspiration for casting our ballots. Dennis Quaid stars as Reagan using what appears to be a combination of prosthetics and digital de-aging (for Reagan’s younger years) that creates an otherworldly effect. He’s joined by other “who’s whos” of conservative Hollywood (Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Kevin Sorbo, Marshall Teague, and more) as well as some other surprising cameos. We were particularly excited to see Scott Stapp (former lead singer of Creed) in a quick cameo as Frank Sinatra. Much of REAGAN is re-told through grating narration of Jon Voight doing a bad Russian accent, representing the Soviet agents and politicians who the film claims monitored Reagan’s every move during his life, disturbed by his crusade against communism. REAGAN takes a nonstop glowing tone in its framing of the conservative president’s life and actions; everything Reagan done is perfect and in deliberate service to his master plan to fight the Soviets. Even the big bowls of jellybeans Reagan was known for keeping in the White House were a clever personality test for evaluating his cabinet, by seeing which flavors they chose. It seems clear that the REAGAN film is a piece of cultural warfare trying to inject some positive reviews of conservatism into the popular mindset, made by Hollywood conservatives who might relate to Reagan’s own background as an actor. Ultimately, this choice to uplift Reagan’s career at all costs makes the film a laughably ridiculous puff piece. Whatever your political values, t’s simply not serious to reduce the life of a consequential politician to the level of complication of a YA novel.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör Boys' Bible Study. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Boys' Bible Study och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.