Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 08/30/24
Ronald Reagan’s optimistic message still resonates in Reagan (in theaters today). While it’s predictable that wokestream media critics will do their best to dismiss the film as a puff piece (basically my view of last night’s overly hyped, overly produced and overly edited CNN interview of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz), there’s a lot to be said for reminding Americans of what can be accomplished when we believe in God and, flowing from that, ourselves. Ronald Reagan unabashedly believed in God and he believed in Americans.
While the movie, which is based on the 2007 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism by Paul Kengor, would have benefited narratively from spending less time on the 45th president’s early years and more on his time in the White House, there are a lot of nuggets about what made Reagan Reagan Ronald Reagan in those early scenes. The movie, however, really takes off when we reach the era of his presidency – particularly in its presentation of his belief that he could bring down the Soviet Union without firing a single shot. The pundits of the time certainly didn’t believe that. I have vivid memories of the Washington Week in Review know-it-alls saying that he had better get used to the idea that the USSR was here to stay. All such commentaries may have been memory-holed by the media but many Americans remember. If not, this film offers a good reminder about what that time was like – and perhaps an eye opener to younger people who have been bestowed a distorted view of history.
Dennis Quaid does a nice job portraying the unique blend of amiability and toughness that combined to make Reagan such a successful leader. In some ways he was Donald Trump in his taking on of the media establishment and instinctive connection to the working class – but without the anger and with much more discipline and eloquence.
Penelope Ann Miller is really effective at portraying how Nancy Reagan‘s unmitigated love and support of her husband helped him navigate the minefields that were being laid in his path – often by American politicians who didn’t share his clarity in viewing the struggle between the US and the USSR as a struggle between good and evil – not perfect against evil, but good against evil.
Jon Voight continues to demonstrate why he is among our culture’s greatest actors with his portrayal of Viktor Petrovich, a fictional KGB agent who gives voice to how Reagan was viewed through Soviet eyes.
Some of the best scenes in the movie are the ones between Reagan and the final Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev(Olek Krupa) who start off as opponents sitting across the table in the world’s tensest game of poker but end up as friends. Gorbachev even attended Reagan’s funeral.
But it is the part of the movie that deals Reagan’s post-presidency and his Alzheimer’s disease that is most moving. One mark of a good film is when you really care about the characters being portrayed. This movie accomplishes that and you may find yourself with a lump in your throat watching these final scenes.
While you can quibble with aspects of the film – such as why there are no scenes with Reagan’s children – overall director Sean McNamara(Soul Surfer) has done a fine job portraying the essence of a man who, for many, represented the essence of America.
If I were to make a suggestion, I would put out there that the story of Reagan’s eight years in the White House be done in the form of an episodic series that could include flashbacks from his youth and provide far more time for insights into the man and his time. Obvious episodes would include his election, the attempted assassination, the Soviet shootdown of Korean Air Flight 007, the US rescue of American students held hostage in Grenada, the Iran-Contra scandal and so much more. It could be a good show.
The Bottom Line: Reagan is highly recommended. _____
Also in theaters today: Sound of Freedom producer Sean Wolfington takes on child trafficking again in City of Dreams. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of a young Mexican boy whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop in downtown LA. My conversation with Sean Wolfington follows the trailer below.
JWK: So, this film goes over some of the same ground – in terms of dealing with human trafficking – as your previous film Sound of Freedom. This issue seems to be important to you.
Sean Wolfington: Yes, well, both films do highlight the realities of child trafficking. Freedom shows how it’s happening all over the world. City of Dreams is a true story about how it happened right here in America – where there is a young Mexican boy who had a dream of becoming a soccer star. That dream turns into a nightmare when his soccer recruiter ends up becoming, in reality, a trafficker who sells him into slavery to a sweatshop in downtown LA where he was held under armed guard and had to find the courage to fight back and then to battle the captors to not only free himself but the other children from the brutal grasp of slavery.
City of Dreams also focuses on child slavery when it comes to slave labor. A majority of the film is about that. A minority does highlight the realities of how traffickers sells kids not just for labor but sex and other things. The primary focus of this story is child slave labor. It’s coming out on Labor Day weekend as a protest to child slave labor.
JWK: I notice that the film has drawn a lot of celebrity support. Vivek Ramaswamy, Tony Robbins and Mira Sorvino have all signed on as executive producers. You also have Sylvester Stallone, basketball coach Pat Riley, Martin Sheen and Kathie Lee Gifford among others as ambassadors for the film. That really does seem to bridge a political divide that doesn’t get bridged too often.
SW: Yeah, it’s certainly not a political issue. It’s a human issue. It’s not left. It’s not right…I love how Democrats and Republicans are coming together to protect all of our children. I’m also grateful that (writer-director Mohit Ramchandani) has made such a masterpiece of a film. It’s one thing to have a message but it’s another thing to have a major motion picture that really moves people to these levels. Part of that is inspired by his own story. His father was a slave in India at the age of seven. When (Mohit) came to LA twenty years ago he had hoped to make this movie…When his mother was on her deathbed, she informed him of her life insurance policy and encouraged him to use it – or at least part of it – to fund this story about his father. It’s not about his father, it’s inspired by his father’s journey It’s very powerful. It’s very inspiring. Our hope is that when people see it that they’ll be moved to join the fight and help protect innocent kids from slavery.
Mohit Ramchandani – we all call him Mo – is a brilliant filmmaker. For example Michael Phillips, the Oscar-winning producer of Taxi Driver and Close Encounters of the Third Kind considers Mo to be the Indian Spielberg. He just did a masterful job. It’s not just the acting. It’s the cinematography and his directing. Everything just came together. Making movies is difficult. You never know what you’re gonna get until it’s finished. This one has the magic to move people in a very special way.
JWK: It’s great that this film is bridging the political divide – as evidenced by those who have come forward to support it – but I was just watching Mo and Tony Robbins on Jesse Watters’ show. They talked about how the movie is doing that – but also mentioned that there is some evidence that the film is being shadow banned on social media. Is that true – and, if so, why do you think that’s happening?
SW: We are not experts in evaluating whether or not there is shadow banning. We have gotten a lot of input from celebrities who are supporting the movie who have said that, you know, normally a post of theirs may be seen by hundreds of thousands and commented on and liked by tens of thousands and in those posts (related to this movie) it’s a fraction, maybe ten or twenty percent of their normal engagement. My common sense tells me that it may be an effort (to fight) trafficking. Meta, Instagram and Facebook have algorhythms to combat (trafficking). In this case, maybe they’re mistaking people who are trying to help with those that are trying to hurt.
JWK: I see.
SW: Hopefully, they’ll be able to fix those algorhythms and they can support all of these efforts to raise awareness about this critical issue.
JWK: What would you like to see happen regarding this issue – legislatively or otherwise?
SW: We have thought long and hard about that and even studied history to see what is it that we can do in order do in order to protect and save more kids. If you look at how how legal slavery ended in America, there are some clues as to what we can do now. According to President Lincoln – you know, after the Civil War ended, he hosted Harriet Beecher Stowe at the White House and he gave her credit…The reason was because she was a writer. She had visited her sister who was living in a state where slavery was legal. She had never been exposed to slavery because she was (living in) a free state. She was so overwhelmed, she couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, she was distraught. She complained to her sister that she was hopeless. She didn’t know what to do. Her sister said “Well, look, you’re a writer. Why don’t you write?” That resulted in Uncle Tom’s Cabin which was read by millions of people who then were exposed to this dark reality of slavery in America. They then rose up and demanded change in their politicians.
While we didn’t write a book, Mo wrote an incredible screenplay. This movie, like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, hopefully will raise awareness and inspire people to join our army of love and demand change – not just from our politicians to improve laws, which we need to do. Sound of Freedom inspired the creation of twenty laws around the world to protect kids. Everybody can play their part. We may not be a writer like Harriet Beacher Stowe or a filmmaker like Mo but everybody’s a storyteller these days with social media. We can first start by sharing the trailer of the movie to help raise awareness about this issue. Awareness is always the first step because when things are far from people’s eyes they’re far from their heart but when they’re close to people’s eyes they’re close to their heart. That is what moves people to take action.
If you go CityofDreamsMovie.com you can join the fight with us. There’s a battle plan there with ten things you can do to help raise awareness. There’s also a resource page that has practical resources provided by A21, a global anti-trafficking organization, to help protect your own family, your own children – but also other people’s children that may not have a family to protect them.
_____ Plus…You Gotta Believe.Based on the inspiring true story of how, after dedicating the season to a teammate’s ailing father, a group of underdogs from Fort Worth, Texas, takes its Cinderella run all the way to a record-breaking showdown in the 2002 Little League World Series – culminating in a record-breaking showdown that became an instant ESPN classic. Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear star.
And The Forge forges ahead to week two at the box office with an A+ CinemaScore. The faith-themed film delivered a solid opening weekend, landing in the top five and closing the weekend with $6.635M in just over 1,800 locations. The latest film from the Kendrick Brothers tells the story of Isaiah Wright (Aspen Kennedy), a recent high school graduate with no plans for his future who challenged by his single mom (Priscilla C. Shirer) and a successful businessman (Cameron Arnett) to start charting a better course for his life.
John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.
Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
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