The first full-length feature film about Ronald Reagan’s life is set to hit theaters in late August, just ahead of the fall presidential campaign season.
He was among the most popular presidents in the post-World War II era, leaving office in January 1989 with a 63 percent approval rating, according to Gallup.
Reagan was the last presidential candidate to win in a true landslide, 49 states to 1 in 1984, with Democrat Walter Mondale barely taking his home state of Minnesota (by 0.2 percent of the vote) and the District of Columbia.
The film “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid in the lead role, will be released nationwide on Aug. 30, Deadline reported.
The movie explores the conservative icon’s extraordinary life, taking the audience from his boyhood in Illinois to becoming a Hollywood star and president of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, to governor of California in the 1960s and 70s, and then on to becoming the 40th president of the United States in the 1980s.
As one would expect, the Cold War plays heavily into the storyline.
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The tale is told through the eyes of former KGB agent Viktor Petrovich, portrayed by Jon Voight, who sets out to explain to an up-and-coming Russian leader how Reagan helped bring about the demise of the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The Western Journal attended a screening of the film in Scottsdale earlier this month.
Quaid’s portrayal of Reagan is strong, as is Penelope Ann Miller’s (“Kindergarten Cop”) performance as Nancy Reagan.
As one would expect and hope, some of the most dramatic moments in Reagan’s life are in the movie, including when a would-be assassin shot him just months into his presidency.
And of course, what would a Reagan film be without that famous moment before the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany in 1987, when he proclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Some of the film was shot at Reagan’s ranch, just north of Santa Barbara, California. He and Nancy spent about a year of his presidency altogether at what became known as the Western White House.
Quaid told CBN News that he’s really proud of the film.
“He was my favorite president,” the actor unequivocally said.
“Portraying Ronald Reagan was an enormous challenge,” Quaid noted. “This is an important movie, one of my most interesting roles, and I am really excited to work with the ShowBiz team.”
ShowBiz Direct is the distributor of “Reagan,” which was originally scheduled for release in 2023, but faced production delays due to the COVID pandemic and the actors’ strike.
The film is directed by Sean McNamara, whose past works include “Soul Surfer” and “The Miracle Season.”
I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.”
That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.
Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.
The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.
Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control.
A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.
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Deputy Managing Editor
The Western Journal
Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean’s list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
