Ardent fans of Ronald Reagan and his political career both as Governor of California and as President of the United States will enjoy this film. Director Sean McNamara and screenwriter Howard Klausner create a film that covers most of Ronald Reagan’s life, from his boyhood in Dixon, Illinois, to his final illness in Los Angeles.

However, these two collaborators present the high points of Reagan’s life but omit any negative material that might mar his image as “the Great Communicator.”

They also use an odd narrative device that is effective at times but can also be jarring. Their premise is that a shrewd but crusty old Soviet spy has been assigned to follow the career of the “Crusader,” Reagan, whom the Soviet Union has determined to be their greatest enemy and who could someday bring about the fall of Communism. The spy is named Viktor and is played by Jon Voight, who appears to have great fun in this caricatured role.

But the movie begins before the political Reagan emerged, as Ronald spent his boyhood and youth in small-town America, where his devout mother told him that “even a seemingly random twist of fate is part of a divine plan.” This message stays with him throughout his life. The youthful Ronald is a lifeguard at a nearby lake, where girls feign drowning in order to be rescued by the handsome lifeguard.

Skipping several years, we see Reagan (Dennis Quaid) as a movie actor whose career is on the skids and whose marriage to Jane Wyman (Mena Suvari) is ending. Neither their adopted son, Michael, nor their daughter, Maureen, is ever mentioned in the film. We see Reagan now interested in becoming President of the Screen Actors’ Union in order to prevent Communist infiltration. It is in this role that he meets Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller). They marry, and we soon find Reagan interested in politics.

The film “Reagan” uses large ellipses as it moves through its protagonist’s life because we suddenly see Ronald Reagan running for Governor of California. The movie is scrupulously careful to portray the love and support that his second wife, Nancy Reagan, provides. But, as in his first marriage, no mention is made of the children that Nancy and Ronald had. The only reference to progeny is one brief shot of a babysitter holding an infant as she waves goodbye to the parents leaving for a State dinner.

We do get several scenes shot at the small ranch house the couple bought in the Santa Inez Mountains above Santa Barbara. This getaway seems to provide the respite that Reagan needs as he pursues a large step into the political arena. By 1967, Reagan is elected Governor of California, yet we see little of what prepared him to pursue this high office, to which he was elected for a second term. The movie would have us believe that Reagan’s affable smile and his critical stance against students protesting on college campuses made this political success possible. By 1975, he was running for President against Jimmy Carter. Again, his charming personality, along with his platform for lowering taxes and fighting Communism, seems to be his keys to success.

But the movie never explores any negative aspects of Reagan’s personal or public life. The Iran-Contra scandal is never addressed, and the disaffection of his and Nancy’s grown children, Ron and Patti, is not mentioned. What moviegoers see in this film is a sanitized version of the 40th President of the United States, who is portrayed effectively by Dennis Quaid, and his very loyal and devoted second wife, who was at his bedside to the end in 2004, when Reagan died of Alzheimer’s disease.

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