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We all love biopics, specially if there is some sort of controversies around the main character or big accomplishment, one way or the other turn to be very interesting, the stories of great personalities and determining factors of their lives, so the film about one of the most beloved presidents, Ronald Reagan which has been in development for several years, will be released August 30. The film has been in production for more than 10 years with the director going through many hurdles such as funding problems, changes in the cast and the effects of the COVID 19 outbreak on production. The project has endured these and assembled a great cast that will help to reveal the story of a man who made his name immortal on the American political and social life, being the first major feature film that attempts to captivate Reagan’s life and presidency the movie is likely to provoke discussions and debates about his legacy as well as provide the audience with the insight into the events and experiences that influenced his life and presidency, for sure this will not be an easy one to pull off, its always the case with biopics. - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723808/ - Platform: Theaters - Release: August 30, 2024

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The Story and Its Unique Perspective

One of the most important aspects of a biopic are time and how the film is narrated, the frame that the director use to bring the story to life. Without watching the movie I can't tell why but its been said that the movie is narrated by a KGB agent, Viktor Petrovich, played by Jon Voight although he is a work of fiction, the reason behind this is that Reagan caught the attention of the Soviet Union during his time. Instead of the movie been told by an American, this will provide a different point of view of how was Reagan's life, I just hope the entire movie becomes political propaganda, but its been mention that the story starts before he started his career into politics, back when he was an actor in Hollywood, also going all the way back to his childhood in Dixon, Illinois, and continue with his acting career in Hollywood and presidency in the White House. The audience can expect pivotal moments in his life to be develop during this movie such as:

The first major job he had was a radio announcer.
The progression to acting in Hollywood for him.
Divorce of Jane Wyman (Mena Suvari) and later to Nancy Reagan (Penelope Ann Miller).
His change of party from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
His term as the Governor of California.
His presidency and his contribution to the ending of the cold war.

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Challenges and Controversies

The Cast and Production

Dennis Quaid portrays Reagan himself a role that is not easy considering that Quaid has portrayed other real life characters in other movies such as "The Express" and "The Special Relationship", Quaid probably has the charm of Reagan and could very well describe a conviction aspect that is perfect for the role of the 40th president of the United States. Nancy Reagan is played by Penelope Ann Miller, her earlier experience in biopic films such as "Chaplin" helps her in this role. Jon Voight plays the role of Viktor Petrovich, a KGB agent who becomes the fictional voice over of the movie telling Reagan’s story, it is due to his performance in political dramas like "The Manchurian Candidate" that Voight makes a convincing actor for this role. Lesley Anne Down plays Margaret Thatcher and being a Brit she is quite convincing in her portrayal of the Iron Lady. The cast also includes Kevin Dillon as Jack Warner and for this role the actor relies on his previous experience of portraying Hollywood characters from the same period as in the series "Entourage". The cast does not end with the main characters, as there are such actors as Nick Searcy as James Baker and Xander Berkeley as George Shultz, who are great at playing politicians. It also has younger actors playing Reagan at different points in his life, David Henrie as teenage Reagan, which lift up the biographical aspect of the movie. The choice of actors is quite deliberate with some of them are veterans of historical dramas, while others are young talents and the filmmakers want to tell the story of Reagan as realistically as possible.

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Challenges and Controversies

A Long Road to Production

Even the making of the movie about Reagan has not been easy with some of the obstacles faced by the production team include:

Problems in accessing credit, therefore, being forced to rely on independent funding
Yearly changes in the scripts of the show
Schedules, cast changes and related issues
Delays in production because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus

Balancing Act

The chief narrative difficulty which the film has to confront, as with any other biopic of an opinion-dividing figure like Reagan, is that of offering a fair account of the man’s life and presidency. There are also certain topics and events from Reagan story that the audience and critics would be expecting to happen, including some of them:

The Iran Contra affair
The political action of Reagan to the AIDS crisis
His economic policies that are also known as Reaganomics
His part for the termination of the cold war

Historical Accuracy and Artistic License

The production team has made the claim of historical accuracy this is true because Paul Kengor was hired to consult on the movie to ensure that the portrayal of Reagan was accurate. Some of the shooting was done in the actual locations, including getting permission to film at Rancho del Cielo, which was Regan’s "Western White House". It should be taken into consideration that as any historical production the audience has to expect certain measure of historical inaccuracy in terms of events representation as well as characters dialogue and behavior. The main problem of the directors is to build the film plot on the real events and finding the right balance between documentary and drama, basically to keep the audience interested if not it would fall flat and boring.

Considering the current political stage of North America I can't stop wondering how much of the audience would be interested to watch a movie about Reagan?, its also been mention across internet that the is potential one of the most effective presidents?. The process of shooting this film from the time when the idea was conceived can be compared with the struggle similar to that of the main character, in order to complete this film to say the least. I personally would find interesting as it is an experience to go through an important period in American history from the perspective of a KGB agent and gain different insights about the man behind the presidency. Biopics are probably one of the most hard type of film to pull off due to two key factors, time constriction when you have such a long story about the subject and historic accuracy, this two factors would be very important for the film to be a success.

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