Angelus News | September 6, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 18

NOW PLAYING REAGAN
AMERICA’S
MIRACLE
MAN?
Dennis Quaid as Ronald
Reagan riding his horse
at his ranch, Rancho del
Cielo, in the film “Reagan.”
| ROB BATZDORFF
In some ways, ‘Reagan’
frames the legendary
president’s life like a
saint’s. Regardless of
your views, that’s not a
bad thing.
BY JOSEPH JOYCE
It’s said there is more than one way
to skin a cat. But what they neglect
to mention is that no matter what
method you deploy, you’re still stuck
with a skinned cat.
That is how I feel about presidential
biopics, even the ones that are wellmade
and feature our more potent
POTUSes: Is it not enough to have
our tax dollars and a library? Must we
also give you a screen at the multiplex
that could have gone to Russell Crowe
playing an exorcist for the third time?
The traditional box office success of
such films, and the recent release of
“Reagan” aspiring to join those ranks,
suggests I’m alone on this one.
The film stars Dennis Quaid as the
titular Gipper, with David Henrie playing
young Reagan when the flashbacks
wind back past the capabilities of Hollywood
makeup. Recent presidential
biopics, such as “Lincoln” and “Southside
With You,” dial in to a single
moment of a president’s life. “Reagan”
has grander ambitions, covering the
whole of the president’s 93-year-long
life and showing no respect for the
viewer’s bladder.
Even Reagan’s detractors will concede
the man lived a life stranger than
any of his B-movies. We’re taken on
a whirlwind journey from Kinkadian
childhood Illinois through Golden Age
Hollywood to Vegas, Iceland, Moscow,
even as far as Burbank. In this span
Reagan runs for president three times,
wins twice, marries twice, escalates and
deescalates the Cold War, survives an
assassination attempt, and accidentally
pulls one off against a goldfish.
Most novel is the film’s focus on Reagan
as president of the Screen Actors
Guild, a neglected chapter in his life
story. There is divine synchronicity in
the Great Communicator sharing a
vocation with the vocally boisterous
Fran Drescher.
The narrative is framed by a former
KGB agent (Jon Voight) attempting to
explain to a fellow agent why Reagan
succeeded despite their efforts. The
film is fittingly structured in a Russian
nesting doll fashion, with the agent
having to venture deeper and deeper
into Reagan lore to explain just what
made the man tick.
It will hardly be a shock to hear that
the KGB agents walk away with hardearned
respect for Reagan. The film is
a hagiography, and to its credit doesn’t
hide it: Ending your movie with the
main character riding his horse off into
the sunset is as open a declaration of
love one can manage without shouting.
I’ve seen marriages built on less.
28 • ANGELUS • September 6, 2024