Movie Review: Reagan (2024)

Reagan (2024) directed by Sean McNamara

This bio-pic of President Ronald Reagan (Dennis Quaid) covers his whole life, from small-town middle-America to the White House and beyond. The story is framed as the reminiscences of a modern-day former KGB agent (Jon Voigt) who tells one of his Russian juniors how the Soviet Union fell. Almost all the credit goes to Reagan, though they do mention contributions from Pope Saint John Paul II (who is only seen in stock footage) and Margaret Thatcher (played by Leslie-Anne Down). The main focus is on Reagan's political conflict with the Soviets, arguably his largest contribution to history.

Quaid gives a very good performance as Reagan. He shows the integrity and strength of character through all his years for his involvement in the Screen Actors Guild to California politics and the presidency. The movie rushes a bit, trying to cover too many things in too little time. His complicated, evolving relationship with unions in California could make its own interesting film, or his years as governor of California, righting the economy while dealing in tough ways with civil unrest. The drama of his campaigns could make their own compelling narrative, as could the Iran-Contra scandal or his negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev. This movie is more like highlights of what happened without digging deeper into the rich details. The film is just okay when it could have been great.

Mildly recommended--this is a good overview of Reagan's life and impact without getting into the depths of the man.

Movie Review: Spare Parts (2015)

Spare Parts (2015) directed by Sean McNamara

Based on a true story, this movie tells the story of four Mexican teens living in America who form a robotics club at their high school. Oscar (Carlos PenaVega) wants to join the US Army but can't since he doesn't have a US birth certificate. He sees a poster for an underwater robotics competition and decides to try for that. His high school science teacher is on maternity leave and Fredi Cameron (George Lopez) is the recently-hired substitute. He's an engineer drifting from job to job and only hosts the robotics club because the principal (Jamie Lee Curtis) said no one would show up. Oscar has a lot of heart and determination so Fredi tells him to recruit some other members and then they will try. Oscar gets a math nerd and a mechanical genius since they have skills needed to make the robot work. They recruit a fourth guy who is strong enough to take the robot in and out of the water. With the crew assembled, they have to work their way through personal and project problems to make it to the competition in Santa Barbara, California.

This is a classic underdog sports story with the sport being robotics. Fredi is the inspirational coach who helps the boys make it to the competition and also help them with their personal lives and get focus for their futures. Lopez does a good job--the screenplay leans into his comedy background. The boys' undocumented immigrant status throws up lots of personal obstacles. They also face the challenge of building a functional robot with minimal resources. The story is entertaining and heartwarming if not surprising. It gets the blend of humor and drama right and has good performances all around.

Recommended.