Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
ChampDavSlim
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
zaniac-67268
This documentary was shown with a leftist viewpoint. Since I was born in 1949 and lived through 12 presidents I have more knowledge gained through experience than those who read about things. The country almost went bust during Carter's administration due to his fiscal policies and lack of respect throughout the world. President Reagan brought back the United States with his tax policies and strong defense policy. The words that basically said it all was that if you tax the workers and give money to those who don't work, people won't work. That is exactly what we've created today with free health care, free housing and free food. Granted, the War On Drugs was a failure just as the War On Poverty was as is the War On Terror. All in all, Reagan was a great leader of the United States. He was at least as good as Eisenhower. The country flourished during their presidencies.
paul2001sw-1
Ronald Reagan has become such a mythologised figure by the American right that it's hard for a documentary to present a balanced view. Moreover, Americans in general tend to treat their Presidents with a respect that is wholly absent from British politics; although Eugene Jarecki's documentary is actually not bad in challenging the myths (both that everything Reagan did was good, and also that he did everything that has been attributed to him), in it's tone, it can't help but add to them. In fact, it's pretty soft on his early years, and fails to mention that as Governor of California, his trick was really to talk like a conservative but to spend like only liberals were supposed to (although it concedes the same point with regard to his subsequent presidency). On the presidency itself, Jarecki's film delivers a harder verdict, as the critics are far more precise than the admirers, who can only defend Reagan through vague eulogy. It's a bit odd, however, that the final verdict on Reagan's years, and American society, is given by a former military officer who seems no more entitled to pass the definitive opinion than any of the rest of us. One interesting thing for me was to see that Reagan was, at his peak, a genuinely accomplished performer - dismissed as senile by his enemies perhaps before he truly was, he comes across as shrewder than popular perception allows, even if one can dispute the value of his legacy.
merrywood
A friend in Paris, France, and fellow filmmaker sent me a copy of this new Reagan documentary. Not a great fan of Reagan or his presidency, I set it aside. My friend persisted and pushed me to watch it. I finally did. The film begins with the death of Ronald Reagan after an extended bout with Alzheimer's disease. Then, it returns to his life, starting with his childhood and covering every step of his career from radio announcer to actor to union president and on to his dazzling political career, one that was not easy any step along the way. It is one of the most extraordinary documentaries I have ever seen, the revelation is not in the massive amount of data packed into this film (Michael Moore, take note, please) but its beautifully organized objectivity and most of all, its subtext, that makes a powerful statement about the impact, often world-changing, of the power of the illusion of ideas. This illusion can create and destroy quickly and with great and lasting power.It is recommended not just to those interested in a fine example of documentary filmmaking but for historians interested in objectivity, especially so in the life of the 40th president of the United States.As an important aside, I have had my feelings about Ron Reagan, Jr. (the president's son, who works in the media) confirmed
He is a bright, deep thinker who doubtless transcends his own father's intellect and contact with humanity.
Danny Blankenship
To mark the 100th birthday of President Reagan HBO just recently showed a doc titled "Reagan" and I must say director Eugene Jarecki made the film rich and moving with footage from the entire life of Ronald both personal and political. The film chronicles from his 1911 birth till his 2004 death from Alzheimer's. Interesting is seeing behind the scenes footage from his early days as an actor, and plenty of important footage from his two terms as the 40th U.S. president is shown.This doc is very educational as many may not know that Reagan as an actor was the SAG president and later a spokesperson for GE and this was a turning point for his politics from liberal democrat to conservative republican. As Ronald saw at GE how company profits worked making him pro business with trickled down economics and with Hollywood's liberal support of communism he broke away from that crowd becoming very anti communist and more of a war hawk.After then you see how his good looks, and success of being a well known actor and speaking voice and charisma lead him to becoming California's governor he clearly was a man with the will power and spunk to accomplish he had all the makings of a strong leader. Which would later propel him into the presidency.So in 1980 he crushed and beat Jimmy Carter by a landslide in the election it certainly was a new era in politics. Especially with the religious right shaping him, America, and the republican party with moral values. Clearly he was a man who cared about people.During the doc you aside from the clips and footage you hear from historians, staff members, journalists, and biographers and family members who tell what an influence that second wife Nancy was on his presidency and life. And many point out Ronald's negatives like economists and international advisers mention Reagan's blunders of massive tax cuts which grew deficits during the 80's with high unemployment and telling was the Iran contra scandal which almost rocked his second term. So Ronnie wasn't a perfect man as he during his second term also ignored the AIDS crisis and fought hard against labor unions.Love him or hate him Ronald Reagan will go down as a memorable icon both culturally and politically a leader who had a lasting impact. He was a man of many faces salesman,actor, politician, leader, religious man and controversial yet thru it all his legacy shines and last in the sunset sea to shining sea.