“Reagan”: In Theaters August 30

By Neenah Payne

Dennis Quaid stars as Ronald Reagan in the new film “Reagan” which opens in theaters on August 30. Quaid is an actor and musician known for his roles in films like "The Right Stuff," "Far From Heaven," and "The Rookie." See him as Ronald Reagan in the upcoming biopic "Reagan" on August 30, and find his album, "Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners," in your preferred format today.

Variety: ‘Reagan’ Review: Dennis Quaid’s Affable yet Authoritative Presidential Performance Leads a Blatantly Worshipful Biopic

The film’s once-over-lightly approach to dramatizing key moments in 20th century history likely will please partisan admirers without winning many new converts. There is a great deal more hagiography than history in “Reagan,” a worshipful biopic of the 40th U.S. President that often plays like the cinematic equivalent of CliffsNotes, or one of those compact paperback biographies of notable figures that are designed to be consumed in an hour or less.

Director Sean McNamara (“Soul Surfer”), working from a by-the-numbers screenplay by Howard A. Klausner (based on Paul Kengor’s book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism”), is nothing if not brisk in his recounting of highpoints in the life of an iconic figure who, for better or worse, loomed large and exerted influence on the world stage throughout the final quarter of the 20th century and beyond….

There’s actually a very funny moment in the film: when a member of Reagan’s political advance team encourages a cohort to “Win one for the gipper!” — a quote from “Knute Rockne, All American” that stuck with Reagan as both catchphrase and nickname for most of his life. The guy’s cohort responds with a puzzled expression that clearly reads: “What the hell are you talking about?”

Of course, the joke likely will be appreciated best, if not exclusively, by folks with a living memory of Reagan the actor as well as Reagan the politician. That would appear to be the target audience for this once-over-lightly movie: Older people who have long embraced Reagan’s conservative politics and, arguably more importantly, share the film’s explicit and unquestioning regard for deep religious faith.

Younger viewers may be startled to hear Reagan claiming that God Almighty played a role in his surviving an assassination attempt — especially so soon after a contemporary politician (and his devoted followers) claimed something similar after his own brush with death. But, then again, that’s assuming anyone under the age of 40 would have any interest in seeing “Reagan” in the first place….

As Petrovich narrates the story, we begin with the 1991 assassination attempt, depicted here in a rather klutzy mix of archival footage and slo-mo recreation, then jump back to begin in earnest with young Reagan’s childhood in small-town Illinois..

Some of the messier details — the Iran-Contra scandal, for example — are glossed over, and others (most notably, his not-so-benign neglect of the AIDS epidemic) are scarcely mentioned at all. Again, this is hagiography, not history. If you accept it as such, you may find yourself mildly engrossed from scene to scene, regardless of your political persuasion, without ever viewing “Reagan” as anything more substantial than a small-budget docudrama series on cable TV. The only difference here is, unlike those shows, Reagan employs only one talking head: Voight’s KGB agent. That helps.

NYTimes: ‘Reagan’ Review: The Gipper Takes on Moscow

In this unabashed love letter to former president Ronald Reagan, Dennis Quaid fights the Cold War with conviction. In his long career, Dennis Quaid has sometimes played politicians. He’s been former President Bill Clinton (“The Special Relationship”) and was the president in the musical comedy “American Dreamz” with Hugh Grant and Willem Dafoe. Now, in “Reagan,” Quaid portrays former President Ronald Reagan with, if not brilliance, at least evident conviction. Time truly holds surprises for all of us.

The movie, directed by Sean McNamara from a screenplay by Howard Klausner, opens with Quaid as the 40th president leaving a speech site and walking right into an assassination attempt. The picture then moves to present-day Moscow. Jon Voight plays Viktor Petrovich, a retired K.G.B. agent with an accent straight out of “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” who narrates the story of Reagan to a younger functionary. And so we shift back to the 1980s, and then back to Reagan’s early years in radio and Hollywood. (Mena Suvari plays Reagan’s first wife, Jane Wyman, and Penelope Ann Miller is Nancy.)”

REAGAN Trailer (2024) Dennis Quaid

Call To Action: America At a Crossroads In History

The COVID lockdown undermined our God-given rights protected by the First Amendment: Freedom Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Assembly, and Freedom of Religion. The question now is whether America will remain The Land of The Free. The answer depends on whether it is still The Home of The Brave.

What happens to America affects all of humanity because America is the leader of the free world. If freedom is lost here, it is lost everywhere and it’s back to the Dark Ages. The open border is posing multiple threats. We are at risk of a global takeover by the World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, and United Nations. Many Americans have lost faith in the corporate media and rely on alternative media now.

Joe Rogan Experience #2189 - Dennis Quaid

Dennis Quaid is an actor and musician known for his roles in films like "The Right Stuff," "Far From Heaven," and "The Rookie." See him as Ronald Reagan in the upcoming biopic "Reagan" on August 30, and find his album, "Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners," in your preferred format today.

Rogan and Quaid chat for over three hours about a wide variety of issues including the open border. And the fentanyl crisis. Quaid points out that the film allows people who lived through the Reagan era to remember how great America was and allows younger people to realize how great it can be again.

Some of their comments are shown below.

Rogan: “Do you think that expressing your conservative view points and doing the film on Reagan will have the potential to hurt your career?”

Quaid: “I don’t care anymore. There was a time when I was concerned to speak my mind and speak up. However, in this last couple of years, I feel that it’s really important that we – all of us – speak up. In this election, everybody’s got to choose a side and we have to speak with each other to have the exchange of views and dialog.

I also gave a speech about Reagan to a group in Florida after we made the movie. I think there were two people who just happened to be January 6ers who were there. My agents told me to just be quiet and let things go by. No! I just can’t! I’m not a very good rule follower to begin with.

I think we all have an obligation, a duty. We’re citizens of the United States, This country is ours. It’s the people of the United States. We’re supposed to run things. We have to speak out. So, what little I know, I do have to speak out about. I also think that presidents are a reflection of who we are as a people and what our culture has become. The world has turned upside down.”

The Important New Movie "Reagan," with Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, Dan Lauria & Clint Black

Megyn Kelly brings a special episode focused on the incredible new movie "Reagan," joined by actors Dennis Quaid who plays Ronald Reagan, Penelope Ann Miller who plays Nancy Reagan, Dan Lauria who plays Tip O'Neill, and musician Clint Black, to talk about the challenges and nuances of portraying President Ronald Reagan, whether Quaid had any reservations about doing so in today's politically and culturally divided environment, how the role demanded a deep understanding of Reagan's legacy and the complexities of his era, the lesson about standing up to a bully, how Quaid lived his life on principles not politics, the unique relationship between the GOP president Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill, the Democratic Speaker of the House, finding common ground in our politics and culture, the challenges and rewards of bringing these historic figures to life, the powerful role Nancy played in President Reagan's life and career, being a loving partner and a key advisor, the depth of their relationship, the incredible music in the film, their concerns about how social media platforms are increasingly censoring content related to the film, claims that the content is "political" content related to the election, and more.