Reagan (2011)

Reagan examines the enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world - icon, screen star, and two-term president Ronald Reagan.

Director:

Eugene Jarecki

Writer:

Eugene Jarecki

Stars:

Bud Abbott, Walter Abel, Spiro Agnew

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bud Abbott	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Abel	...	Himself (archive footage)
Spiro Agnew	...	Himself (archive footage)
Martin Anderson	...	Himself - Reagan historian
Lauren Bacall	...	Herself (archive footage)
Andrew Bacevich	...	Himself - Boston University
James Baker III	...	Himself - Reagan Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Treasury
Glenn Beck	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alvah Bessie	...	Himself (archive footage)
Herbert J. Biberman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lewis Black	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Boehner	...	Himself (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	Himself (archive footage)
Leonid Brezhnev	...	Himself (archive footage)
Pat Buchanan	...	Himself - Reagan Communications Director

Storyline

Ronald Reagan as a man, as compared to his legacy, is rich territory for exploration, and a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is just one of the many things that springs to mind after viewing filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's latest opus, Reagan (Jarecki's Why We Fight won the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Documentary). Speaking at his funeral, Mark Antony said of Caesar, "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." With a firm grasp of Reagan's story, Jarecki avoids the predictable and takes the long view on Reagan's life and influence, while staying centered on him as a man of deep contradiction; an American whose patriotism paradoxically led him to impeachable acts, a liberal Democrat who came to define the modern conservative movement.

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Plot Keywords:

political superpower | liberal | president | career | u.s. president | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ronald Reagan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charlotte Street Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color Black and White

User Reviews

Incisive and Balanced

I watched this on Link TV, a liberal cable channel specializing in those such as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, so I expected it to be scathing. It certainly stripped away many illusions, but while strongly critical the results of trickle down, and the limits of his grasp of complexity of issues; it defined his positions fairly.

He did evolve from a New Deal Democrat, leading his Actors Union against management, but also was viscerally opposed to global Marxism, and the social revolution of the 1960s.

The insights of Morris, his official biographer for almost a decade, along with Cannon who wrote several biographies including when he was Governor, provide special scholarly insight.

The current Republican conservatives forget that he pass what was an actual amnesty for illegal-undocumented immigrants, and actually increased both government spending and deficits.

It could be that his hawkish policies early on allowed him more latitude to connect with someone eager to wind down the cold war, Michel Gorbechev. History doesn't allow for controlled experiments so we can't re-run events with a different leader at the helm.

I commend this documentary for those who lived through the era, but events have become hazy.