There are about three different stories I'd like to tell about seeing the movie Reds. I knew from my strange knowledge of the Oscars (I memorized Best Picture winners from the age of oh...8) that this was a nominee for Best Picture that many felt was robbed by Chariots of Fire. The second was when I went to Ernest Thompson's house, author of the play On Golden Pond and its 1981 adaptation talked about he planned to lose to Reds, to ironically lose to Chariots of Fire. When I saw this film on free on Amazon Prime one night I had down time at work, the 3 hr 15 minute runtime did not deter me. And what I got was a great viewing experience.
But onto the actual film. I don't know why it took me until seeing this film to realize what a great actress Diane Keaton is. She's in a lot of forgettable and trite romantic comedies these days, but she used to have great range: a heartbreaking speech about getting an abortion in The Godfather Part II but light and bubbly in Annie Hall. I would consider this a trifecta of acting from her prime that defined her as one of the great American actresses from the second half of the 20th century, Warren Beatty, who I sadly only know from this and Bonnie & Clyde, is also great. This was a passion project of his in development for a long time, and the attention to detail is amazing. This is a full blooded epic in the tradition of David Lean.
What I think is really interesting about this film is it came out at the height of the Cold War. 1981, Reagan, all that jazz. Jack Reed is undeniably seen as the hero, there's no doubt about it. But I think the underlying that revolution is ultimately pointless because it will be corrupted into the dictatorship you saw in contemporary times. Russia wanted freedom and got the Soviet Union.
One thing I did not like about the film was the interviews in the modern setting. They slow the pacing down to a grind and I disliked whenever they came up. It's made up for a little bit at the end when it's shown that the elderly interviewees don't know what they're talking about anyway.
***1/2 Stars out of 4
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