J K

Solid 4 or 4.5. This is a warm, decent, non-manipulative historical movie. It’s a complete blast-from-the past in moviemaking. The movie is in most ways a linear bio-pic, though the clever framing mechanism (that’s Jon Voight’s job - and it works well) makes it feel more relevant and contemporary. Quaid sells himself as Reagan - a high hurdle. It’s an award-worthy performance, though of course that will never happen. The movie is well-acted, well-written, and has good cinematography and staging. The movie was put together by people who clearly knew and understood the Reagans - the actual warm-hearted, decent peopel they were. I had one very brief interaction with them when I was a teenager (and it included one of the dogs portrayed in the movie) - and this is what I saw, albeit briefly. The movie is a love letter to a great American. His greatness does not fit the current political narrative desired - so see this to peak through that veil.

This movie has a severe identity crisis. It’s a comedy, it’s a rom-con, it’s film noir. It’s never all at the same time; it switches gears multiple times and leaves you confused. We find out at one point a character is an amoral murder, and then are just told to embrace that. The acting is adequate, though there is little heat in the relationship we are supposed to believe breaks boundaries and rules. You can kill time w/this movie, but you won’t come away feeling it was well spent.