Film Critic’s reception to "Reagan" the movie clearly demonstrates the disconnect between elite opinion and that of folks buying tickets to the movies.
And since the critics are knee-jerk reflections of the opinions of our arrogant rulers, the reviews of "Reagan" would have provided a hint as to how Trump’s election would turn out, to those perceptive enough to see.
And although Donald Trump would never be mistaken for Ronald Reagan, the disparity in movie reviews tracks the dismissive contempt with which our elites hold Trump voters now and Reagan voters then.
Fox News interviewed Paul Kengor who wrote, "The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism," the book that was the basis for "Reagan."
Fox observes, "The year's best reviewed films have been assembled, and the film, 'Reagan,' has one of the biggest disparities in recent years — currently sitting at a 98 % audience approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. That's starkly different from the dismal critics' score of 18%."
Kengor agrees, "Yeah, the disparity is really profound. In fact, it reminds me of what happened in 1984 when Ronald Reagan won 49 out of 50 states, which is probably about 98% of the states.
"If you do the math on this, 49 of 50 states won about 60% of the vote, won the Electoral College 525 to 13. But you had these liberal critics who didn't like him, and they were very much in the minority."
In 1984 all the best minds concluded that Reagan was too old and the job of president was too much for him. Walter Mondale was obviously the superior candidate and would win in November. Add too fascist and too convicted to the too old and too much criticism of Reagan and you have what the elites thought of Trump before last month’s election.
They were wrong both times.
The journey from book to audience favorite was a long one.
It took 20 years from the time filmmaker Mark Joseph called Kengor regarding the rights to his book.
What boosted "Reagan" from concept to cinema was the addition of one man: Dennis Quaid. Once an established star took the career risk of agreeing to portray a conservative hero, the production hit its stride.
"Kengor said a friend who had been previously critical of their movie process called him to say congratulations, and it was a ‘done deal.’ That's when Kengor said he realized how the industry worked."
Kengor was also fortunate in that Quaid turned out to be perfect for the part.
Although four other stars had expressed interest in the project over the years, Quaid was the catalyst. "I can't imagine that any of them would have been better than Dennis Quaid," Kengor said.
"I really just marvel at how he nailed Reagan --- the voice, the face, even the passion, the enthusiasm. All along, the trickiest thing was going to be to get someone to play Reagan who didn't look like he was doing a parody of Reagan."
We didn’t listen to the critics when we voted last month, and we shouldn’t listen to them now. If you haven’t seen "Reagan," take the advice of your fellow Americans and do so.
The sooner the better. After all, 98% of real Americans can’t be wrong.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.