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"In the chess game of the Cold War, this was checkmate."
This is dialogue from the new movie "Reagan", out for about a month now. It is a biopic of the life of Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the USA. Reagan, portrayed in the movie by Dennis Quaid, served as president from 1981 to 1989.
This statement, by the character -- retired Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Petrovich Ivanov (played by Jon Voigt) -- referred to President Reagan's 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall, in what was then a divided city. From a position with his back to the Brandenburg Gate, East Berlin stretched behind him, and a huge crowd in front of him, Reagan said: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Mikhail Gorbachev had started as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985; he and Regan had several productive meetings starting soon afterwards.
For a chess-related metaphor, I cannot think of anything I have seen in movies which tops this statement!!!
Two years later, after Reagan had retired as president earlier in 1989, the Berlin Wall did in fact fall, East and West Germany were reunified, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991, with Gorbachev leaving politics permanently.
How is the movie? I enjoyed it, and learned from it. Obviously, in a movie just over two hours long, covering a world figure who lived past age 90, there are bound to be omissions. The movie does not claim to be a complete version of Reagan's life. I thought it was outstanding on his early life, and also that its emphasis hit the many high notes very well. The reviewers have not been that kind -- many focused on the clear right-wing bias of much of the plot. My own politics are progressive; I knew going in that I would be disappointed on certain elements, and I was. The film is certainly light on many of Reagan's presidential policies, which included massive budget deficits, huge increases in military spending, and much suffering for the poor, caused by deep cuts to social programs. The Iran / Contra scandal of the late 1980s is also covered superficially, I thought.
The plot moves very quickly, and the movie features many fine performances by supporting actors; for a budget of an estimated $15 million (U.S.), it is excellent.
But Reagan was an active New Deal Democrat until about age 40, growing up poor in Illinois, and he supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who won four presidential elections, beginning in 1932. Reagan began his successful acting career at age 26 in 1937, and was an effective leader in the Screen Actors' Guild, based in Hollywood, from the mid-1940s, rising to president. The strong influence of his second wife -- Nancy Davis -- whom he married in 1952, is often credited with his switch to the Republican Party, which he made clear in 1964. Also, his income rose to the extent where he was in the 94 per cent income tax bracket. He was elected to two four-year terms as Republican Governor of California starting in 1966, when he was already 55. He began his first presidential term just before turning 70, and barely survived an assassination attempt three months after taking office, but returned to work a month later. This part of the story is one of the film's major strengths.
The film's key emphasis is on the Cold War, and Reagan's apparent plan for winning it. Some of this historical accuracy, as depicted, is open to some challenge. But, the West did win the Cold War. Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently attempting to roll back history concerning that!
I think the film will be nominated for industry awards of various types; it probably will not win anything really big, but Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood!!!
This is dialogue from the new movie "Reagan", out for about a month now. It is a biopic of the life of Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the USA. Reagan, portrayed in the movie by Dennis Quaid, served as president from 1981 to 1989.
This statement, by the character -- retired Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Petrovich Ivanov (played by Jon Voigt) -- referred to President Reagan's 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall, in what was then a divided city. From a position with his back to the Brandenburg Gate, East Berlin stretched behind him, and a huge crowd in front of him, Reagan said: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Mikhail Gorbachev had started as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985; he and Regan had several productive meetings starting soon afterwards.
For a chess-related metaphor, I cannot think of anything I have seen in movies which tops this statement!!!
Two years later, after Reagan had retired as president earlier in 1989, the Berlin Wall did in fact fall, East and West Germany were reunified, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991, with Gorbachev leaving politics permanently.
How is the movie? I enjoyed it, and learned from it. Obviously, in a movie just over two hours long, covering a world figure who lived past age 90, there are bound to be omissions. The movie does not claim to be a complete version of Reagan's life. I thought it was outstanding on his early life, and also that its emphasis hit the many high notes very well. The reviewers have not been that kind -- many focused on the clear right-wing bias of much of the plot. My own politics are progressive; I knew going in that I would be disappointed on certain elements, and I was. The film is certainly light on many of Reagan's presidential policies, which included massive budget deficits, huge increases in military spending, and much suffering for the poor, caused by deep cuts to social programs. The Iran / Contra scandal of the late 1980s is also covered superficially, I thought.
The plot moves very quickly, and the movie features many fine performances by supporting actors; for a budget of an estimated $15 million (U.S.), it is excellent.
But Reagan was an active New Deal Democrat until about age 40, growing up poor in Illinois, and he supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who won four presidential elections, beginning in 1932. Reagan began his successful acting career at age 26 in 1937, and was an effective leader in the Screen Actors' Guild, based in Hollywood, from the mid-1940s, rising to president. The strong influence of his second wife -- Nancy Davis -- whom he married in 1952, is often credited with his switch to the Republican Party, which he made clear in 1964. Also, his income rose to the extent where he was in the 94 per cent income tax bracket. He was elected to two four-year terms as Republican Governor of California starting in 1966, when he was already 55. He began his first presidential term just before turning 70, and barely survived an assassination attempt three months after taking office, but returned to work a month later. This part of the story is one of the film's major strengths.
The film's key emphasis is on the Cold War, and Reagan's apparent plan for winning it. Some of this historical accuracy, as depicted, is open to some challenge. But, the West did win the Cold War. Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently attempting to roll back history concerning that!
I think the film will be nominated for industry awards of various types; it probably will not win anything really big, but Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood!!!