Reagan
Who is selling Ronald Reagan and to what end?
Reagan examines the enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world—icon, screen star, and two-term president Ronald Reagan. This HBO documentary, which premiered this year on Reagan’s 100th birthday, traces the 40th president’s meteoric rise from B-movie actor to General Electric salesman to California Governor to the most powerful office in the world, examining how an impassioned anti-Communism fueled an unexpected but seismic political career, one whose reverberations still shape Americanlife.
It also explores how a self-proclaimed group of modern-day Reagan acolytes have come to repackage his legacy, seeking to turn a deeply textured human being into an oversimplified marble icon for their own contemporary political purposes. Who is selling Ronald Reagan and to what end?
Director
Eugene Jarecki
Producer
Kathleen Fournier and Eugene Jarecki
Rights Represented
Educational Rights
Captions Available
None Available
Language
English
Press
“In this probing and fascinating HBO documentary, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki impressively distinguishes Reagan the man from Reagan the myth. With its astute political and psychological observations, it will impress both sides of the political aisle… REAGAN IS TRULY A MASTERWORK, told with flair and intelligence.
- Hollywood Reporter
“The strengths and weaknesses of the late “Great Communicator” are well articulated in “Reagan,” Eugene Jarecki’s BRILLIANTLY SHAPED DOCU-PORTRAIT of the 40th U.S. president.”
- Variety
“Reagan provides A FASCINATING LOOK AT RONALD REAGAN, and its subtle critique falls less on the man than on the idea of him.”
- Vanity Fair
“★ ★ ★ ★ – I STRONGLY RECOMMEND “REAGAN,” the very wonderful documentary by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. Here, you’ll get the whole picture rather than a gilded rendering or just a blackened image.”
- New York Post
Festival & Awards
Official Selection 2011 Sundance Film Festival
HBO Premiere to Commemorate Reagan’s 100th Birthday
Screened by the Pentagon on Presidents’ Day 2011 to 1 million service-people in 170 countries