To say that Ronald Reagan is the subject of The Reagan Show would be misleading.
Indeed, the life, times, and politics of the 40th President are somewhat ancillary. So, if you’re looking for an in-depth feature examining his politics and policies and how they continue to affect the country today (whether for better or for worse, however, usually comes down to party affiliation), go somewhere else. That’s beyond the scope of this documentary. Instead, this compact and compelling film seeks to show how Reagan’s presidency was portrayed, both in the media and by the White House itself. It just so happens that the made-for-TV president was Ronald Reagan.
In many respects, the case directors Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez make is more important than a point-by-point policy breakdown when you take a look at current cultural proclivities. This also means that The Reagan Show is unsettling and upsetting to watch.
This all-archival film has no narration. No expert witnesses. No character witnesses. Every bit of the footage comes from television news reports and the White House’s own tapes; a few brief title cards interspersed throughout give the audience the right amount of context.
One of the first title cards gives us the context that is essential to understanding the film’s thesis: the Reagan White House amassed as much footage documenting his presidency as the previous five administrations combined. Most (all?) of this footage aimed to keep the continuity of Reagan as an affable, likable, All-American type of guy that was established in his Hollywood days as a leading man fighting for justice in whatever form the genre dictated.
It shows the rehearsals for photo-ops; improvising a bit with a chainsaw, a tree, and across Mrs. Reagan for laughs; trying to get the pronunciation of a name of a gubernatorial candidate he claims on-camera as a friend (only to say in-between takes that he’s never met the guy). If you only saw the finished products (as everyone did at the time), you probably couldn’t help but like the guy at least a little bit. He comes off as a natural charmer. All of this footage is cut around a chronological progression of the media coverage of Reagan’s presidency. This is where the aforementioned directors and the writing team of Josh Alexander, Francisco Bello, and Pacho Velez show their talents and mastery of their craft.
An all-archival documentary is a tricky beast to master. It’s easy to come out the other side with a film that is shapeless and aimless and therefore inert. But, the creative team gave The Reagan Show a clear narrative backbone in nuclear policy, beginning with the much-mocked “Star Wars” defense plan of anti-missile weapons in space to his final armament agreement with Mikhail Gorbachev. Throughout this period of several years, we see clearly the increasingly critical discussion around Reagan’s stubborn policies contrasted with the White Houses’s steadfast adherence to the image of Ronald Reagan as everyman hero.
The Reagan Show doesn’t have any obvious political leanings, and what you get out of it will probably largely depend on how you personally feel about Reagan and his legacy. And that’s fine. But what the film does give us is a portrait of the rise of politicians as television personalities first, public servants second. While there’s no direct condemnation of this particular cultural shift, it does lay the blame firmly at Reagan’s feet. Of course, the implications of this new age of politics and their obvious pertinence to recent political happenings in the United States probably go without saying. They go without saying so much, in fact, that a whole lengthy essay could be (and most likely has been) written about the evolution of politics from solemnity to reality television. But that’s beyond the scope of a film review.
For the most part, the film gives us all the parts and lets us draw our own conclusions on whether this trickle down legacy of the Reagan administration has been for the better or for the worst.
Oh yeah. And it’s also a wonderful and important documentary.
Opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, June 30.
