Reagan (#593)

The Labor Day weekend had two surprises—the release of about six new movies and crowds. I now revert to reading the summaries of movies before going to avoid seeing something I know I will detest and so my first choice was REAGAN, an innocuous decision, I figured.  I was amazed by the size of the audience, the largest since viewing the Taylor Swift concert.  And they were quiet and subdued.  It was a stilted production, stilted in the sense that the cast delivered the dialogue in a somewhat stiff fashion, especially the actress, Penelope Ann Miller, playing Nancy Reagan, first as a flighty and silly young actress, later as a stern, demanding woman in charge.  It follows faithfully as Reagan moves from movies to politics, with flashbacks to his boyhood and it moved well.  Dennis Quaid portrayed the former president fairly well as did old timers Jon Voight as a former Russian KGB leader and Leslie-Anne Down as Margaret Thatcher.  The story is told by Voight weaving a tale of Russian scrutiny of Reagan as a threat to that country from his earliest days, which was a unique approach and covered virtually every aspect of his life and administration—both good and bad.  And I was entertained, if not educated.  I was amused by the ratings, which I think clearly highlighted political differences.  Only 19% of critics gave it a thumbs up as opposed to a 96% positive approval by audiences.  Ain't politics grand?