Delaware's Long-Standing Conservative Organization
VOLUME 42, ISSUE 4
INSIGHTS
Distributed quarterly by mail and email, the Conservative Caucus of Delaware's newsletter contains relevant information and insights from noted leaders, authoritative stakeholders and like-minded members who demonstrate their passion for the truths we hold dear by putting pen to paper!
Reagan Reveals The Man and "The Crusader"
In the film Reagan, director Sean McNamara delivers a narrative on what love of country, vision and a strong backbone can do to inspire a country. In two hours and 21 minutes, the film focuses on many of the important aspects of Reagan’s life from his childhood formation through his death in 2004. With the exception of the defeat of the Soviet Union, there are no “deep dives” into events but the film does cover his successes and some failures (Iran-Contra).
This film stars Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan, Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan and Jon Voight as Viktor Petrovich, a former Soviet Spy and personality “profiler” for the KGB from whose perspective this story is told. The KGB’s code name for Reagan was “The Crusader.”
Petrovich’s narration of Reagan’s story comes as he answers questions from a Russian “up and coming” politician who wants to know: “how can we achieve world domination without making the mistakes of the past.” The movie begins in the present time and Petrovich answers the question by telling the stories of his research of Reagan’s boyhood
influences and his observations of Reagan when he was President of the Screen Actors Guild. The narrative jumps backward and forward through time to show us how Reagan’s personality and world view influenced his vision and decisions as he moved from Hollywood to Washington. Many of Reagan’s most famous speeches are quoted and resonate today. When Petrovich finishes his narrative, he says that the answer to the question is “don’t underestimate the American people the way we underestimated Reagan.”
As part of Petrovich’s research, we are shown scenes from Reagans early years with his mother Nelle. She convinced him that he, like all the rest of us, is part of God’s plan. Key scenes show Reagan’s toughness and his commitment to do what he thought was the right thing. He faced off with Herb Sorrell, a union boss who was linked to the communist party, as Sorrell attempted a takeover of the Screen Actors Guild. As governor of California, he dealt with student protesters at Berkeley. The best and most important scenes deal with Reagan’s single-minded hatred of communism because it denied people their basic freedoms of religion and expression. But he knew the difference between communism and the people who ran it, especially Mikhail Gorbachev. He was able to develop a
relationship with Gorbachev that withstood the back and forth of disagreeable diplomacy.
The performances are compelling, the make-up was good, and the cinematography was excellent. Quaid does not look like Reagan but the hair, the rosy cheeks and the smile were enough to capture Reagan’s essence. Penelope Ann Miller was believable as Nancy Reagan and her performance captured her devotion to Reagan as well as her grit when it came to protecting him. Voight gave his usual great acting performance as Petrovich.
Scott Wheeler did an excellent job on Voight’s makeup, convincingly making him look 35 years younger when the younger Petrovich met with the politburo to report on Reagan during the height of the Cold War.
The cinematography was magnificent showing us Reagan’s California ranch in its broad beauty. There is no doubt why he loved it so much and how much it inspired him. For Reagan, the ranch provided both the hard, day to day activities that Americans do (for him, it was chopping wood and building fences) and also opened his mind to what was possible if you have faith in yourself, God and the
American people.
Of course, we all know how the story ends but the director made it inspirational. He shows Reagan on his “last ride” around the ranch and overlays it with actual audio from Reagan’s “going away” speech.
The film’s message is that America was a force for good in the world, not because we conceded things to the world but because we led the world from a strong and principled position. That Reagan was a strong, principled man came through in the movie. He was not afraid to speak his mind even if the subject was controversial. He was also not afraid to admit when he was wrong and to take responsibility for his mistakes (see the Iran-Contra speech). He was also caring and kind; Reagan had heart. (Stay to the very end of the
credits.)
True to Reagan’s spirit, the tone of the film is optimistic! He knew that America had a role to play on the world stage if it would just believe in itself and stay true to its principles. The film is inspiring! It shows what America has been to the world and encourages us to tackle what still needs to be done. Reagan, the man, made you feel good about yourself and made you feel good to be an American.■
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