17% Critics Score and 98% Audience Score.... wait, let's revise that. 17% Left Wing Politics Score and 98% Audience Score and keep in mind that it's "Review Bombing" if the audiance doesn't have the proper left wing opinion about entertainment. Because, you know, everything has t be political.
It doesn't deserve that 17% Critics score, it's FAR better than that. Dennis Quaid likes doing the role, you can tell, and he does a great job with it, even trading in the smile that my wife love for Reagan's closed mouth grin. Jon Voight does a fairly good job but you get the sense that he's throwing himself more into the accent than the role itself, and it is fun to see Ronald Reagan narrated by a Russian... or Jon Voight with a Russian accent. And that narration is where the problem is, but I'll get to it in a bit. It's nice to see Penelope Ann Miller in a big role again, well it's nice for me, I always thought she was criminally under-rated and legitimately deserved more of the spotlight than she's had. The story is well done, it's well acted, and the CGI de-aging isn't as annoying as seeing Robert Deniro as a young man doing an old man's walk.
HOWEVER, it also doesn't deserve the 98% from the audience either. Well, it does, if you are a fan of Reagan, but if you're a fan of movies..... more like 75%. Look at all the positives and then look at all the negatives... there really aren't any.
And that is why I tend to just hate biops. They are either hit pieces which are dramatic, but insulting to the intelligence, or they are the greatest hits. And that is where you lose the 98% and it is more a 75%. The critics panned it for politics, this is true, but despite it being well done, without the balance of good and evil for the protagonist it feels like a nostalgia piece, and the reality is that the good old days weren't always good.
It's a good movie, but it lacks a balance to be a dramatic movie. J. Edgar did a good job of that, doing the balance, even Nixon showed more balance than you would expect from Stone, and was the better for it. W was the same. although less so. Reagan didn't hit that mark. It's a fun and an entertaining movie, but one that ultimately lacks a balance in the character.
And I think, honestly, that is more from the narration, and how the biop leans into it, robbing Reagan of real character.