Four stars. Rated R, for brief nudity and frequent profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.16.16
Oliver Stone’s films have
polarized viewers for three decades — ever since 1986’s Platoon — and this one won’t be any different.
Indeed, it’s difficult to find a
recent public figure who has divided opinion as much as Edward Snowden
(although a current presidential candidate comes close).
 |
| Having assembled their information into a series of revelatory articles ready for publication, the team of unlikely conspirators — from left, documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo), Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewan MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) — discuss, via teleconference, how best to release the stories. |
Stone’s dip into these
tempestuous waters — he also co-wrote the script, with Kieran Fitzgerald, based
on material gathered from books by Luke Harding and Anatoly Kucherena — isn’t
likely to change any minds. Neither will this film’s slant surprise anybody
familiar with Stone’s über-liberal proclivities. No question: This is a
sympathetic, strawberry-lensed portrait of — depending on your point of view — one of our country’s
most heinous traitors, or one of its most conscientious whistle-blowers.
The issue itself also frustrates
fence-sitters. Civil liberties types, with a healthy respect for George Orwell,
fear the totalitarian potential of an unchecked government Big Brother. Those
favoring security — at any cost — argue that such a position is naïve, at a
time when headlines are dominated by the grotesque behavior of terrorists who
operate outside of national boundaries.
In fairness, Stone’s film carefully
takes no position in that particular argument. The primary goal of any
mainstream drama, even one drawn from actual events, is to give a (hopefully)
talented cast the opportunity to inhabit engaging characters involved in a
compelling storyline.
In this respect, Snowden succeeds, in great part because
of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s thoroughly convincing portrayal of the title
character. Viewers exiting the theater may not agree with Snowden’s actions,
but the emotional and philosophical journey that gets him there is presented thoughtfully and persuasively
(assuming, of course, that we accept Harding and Kucherena’s vision of the
man).
Thematically, this film echoes
Stone’s depiction of Ron Kovic, in 1989’s Born
on the Fourth of July. In both cases, we’re introduced to young, true-blue American
patriots — believers in baseball, motherhood and apple pie — who shed their
idealism slowly, reluctantly, but then completely ... and only after coming to the
conclusion that People In Authority have lied to them, and to everybody, for
too long.
Stone opens his film in a plush
Hong Kong hotel in the spring of 2013, as Snowden takes his first meeting with
documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and Guardian journalist Glenn
Greenwald (Zachary Quinto); they’re soon joined by the Guardian’s defense and
intelligence correspondent, Ewan MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson). They’ve assembled
to help Snowden “finesse” the disclosure of his stolen classified documents, in
a very public manner that will prevent the U.S. government from spinning the
revelations into something insignificant.
And, not incidentally, to
minimize the chances that Snowden might get kidnapped and/or killed.
(Poitras actually preceded this film
by two years; her 2014 documentary on Snowden, Citizenfour, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature,
along with a slew of other national and international honors.)
Snowden’s recitation of events,
over the course of many clandestine hotel meetings — with all cell phones
tossed into the room’s microwave, to shield monitoring; and pillows stuffed
against the door, to prevent casual eavesdropping — becomes the framing device for
the subsequent lengthy flashbacks.
Those unfamiliar with Snowden’s
earlier life are likely to be surprised by the initial hop, to 2004, which
finds the young man — a devoted conservative — as a Special Forces enlistee in
the U.S. Army Reserve, a decision consistent with his family’s history of
service in the federal government. But Snowden lacks the physique for such
ambition, and a serious training accident prompts another path — with the CIA —
that better exploits his instinctive and impressive cyber-security skills.
At roughly this point, he meets
Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), a budding photographer and performance artist
destined to become his soul mate. She’s an unapologetic bleeding-heart liberal,
and they tease each other over their divergent political views. The chemistry
is palpable, Woodley’s playful handling of the gregarious, free-spirited Mills
an intriguing contrast to Gordon-Levitt’s shy, quietly intense Snowden.
Subsequent events happen quickly,
and Stone deserves credit for cleverly presenting the (at times) quite complex
tech talk that exemplifies Snowden’s work. The results are easy to comprehend,
as are the intrusive personal freedom issues that crop up almost immediately.
Stone also offers an intriguing
thought, when Snowden’s eventual CIA mentor — Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans,
playing a fictitious character clearly named after the villain in Orwell’s 1984) — accepts this young recruit,
despite less than acceptable application results, because the “extraordinary”
times demand his skill set. Given the cowboy mentality demonstrated by some of
Snowden’s eventual, equally young colleagues, we can’t help wondering if the
CIA, NSA and related alphabet agencies may have relaxed their standards too much.
In that context, was an Edward
Snowden inevitable ... and their own fault?
As the years pass, Snowden’s
belief in the necessity of his work is shaped by a variety of colorful figures:
Hank Forrester (Nicolas Cage, playing another fictitious character), a sidelined
computer savant “demoted” to teaching CIA recruits; Matt Kovar (Timothy
Olyphant), a Geneva-based CIA agent whose cold-hearted, dirty-tricks behavior
with a potential asset prove repulsive; and Gabriel Sol (Ben Schnetzer), a
fellow NSA hacker who reveals the jaw-dropping reach of secret U.S. government
surveillance, and laughingly refers to his naïve new colleague as “Snow White.”
But Ifans’ highly placed O’Brian
is the chilling spider at the heart of this web. It’s a fascinating shift for
an actor initially best known for larkish supporting roles in crowd-pleasing
rom-coms such as Notting Hill and Pirate Radio (not to mention his
fan-cred appearance as Harry Potter’s Xenophilius Lovegood). But, as with many
comedic actors before him, those same skills make him a memorable figure of
restrained malevolence.
In a word, O’Brian is scary. His sponsorship of Snowden feels
genuine — and the younger man eagerly drinks that Kool-Aid — but there’s
something in Ifans’ eyes that screams danger. The same gullibility that
prompted the “Snow White” moniker also blinds Snowden to what lies behind
O’Brian’s bland smile.
Stone obviously recognized the
power of Ifans’ performance, choosing to heighten it with a gigantic,
face-directly-in-front-of-the-monitor close-up during a teleconference between
O’Brian and Snowden, late in the story. One cannot help but shiver.
But Gordon-Levitt owns the film,
as well he should, being present in almost every scene. There’s a slight
affectation to his voice — briefly bothersome, until we settle into it — but
otherwise he nails Snowden’s childlike earnestness, and that aha! flash of inspiration that seasoned
computer nerds will recognize.
More crucially, we see the shift
in Gordon-Levitt’s gaze and posture, as the scales fall from Snowden’s eyes ...
at which point he becomes furtive and wary, like a hunted animal. (As the saying
goes, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get out.)
Woodley isn’t quite as
persuasive, despite the meet-cute charm of her early scenes. She looks awkward
trying to inhabit this young woman’s goofier, giddier nature (pole-dancing?), and
Mills’ more serious confrontations with Snowden lack credibility. The actors
make it easy to see why these two characters fall in love, but we find it
increasingly hard to believe why they remain
in love.
Quinto is appropriately
passionate as an excited journalist sitting atop the white-hot exposé of the
century, and he has a particularly ferocious exchange with Janine Gibson (Joely
Richardson), editor of The Guardian’s New York-based online branch.
Stone’s control of tone is
assured and consistent, although he “conveniently” omits known details that
call Snowden’s altruistic motives into question. One quick scene also feels
completely wrong: When Snowden successfully smuggles the surveillance data out
of the NSA’s Hawaiian regional operations center, where he has worked for 15
months — and his means of foiling the obligatory employee exit scan seems
unlikely — he casually walks a few score yards out of the complex ... and then,
in tight close-up, bursts into an ear-splitting grin (one of very few in the entire
film).
Too smug. Not at all the reaction
we’d expect, from the man we’ve gotten to know so well, by this point.
(Contrary to what the film
depicts, Snowden spent quite awhile accumulating his trove of classified data:
not one quick afternoon.)
So, OK, this isn’t a documentary;
these dramatic sleights-of-truth don’t diminish the overall film. On top of
which, we can’t deny the impact of Stone’s final scene, as his protagonist is
interviewed via Internet for a packed lecture hall ... and a smooth camera pan
unexpectedly shifts from Gordon-Levitt, answering questions, to Snowden
himself, doing the same. It’s a powerful moment.
The behind-the-scenes work is
top-notch, with production designer Mark Tildesley’s visions of CIA and NSA
computer surveillance centers looking both high-tech and occasionally kludgy.
Craig Armstrong and Adam Peters heighten the growing tension with a subtle —
but always effective — orchestral underscore.
Poitras’ Citizenfour undoubtedly gives a more candid depiction of Snowden
circa 2013, but her film — as with most documentaries — has a clinical,
academic tone (and Lindsay is entirely absent). It’s easier to fall into the
spirit of Stone’s film, which does a better job of trying to address Snowden’s
emotional and psychological complexities.
Whether that mission proves
successful — since Stone clearly sympathizes with his subject — remains to be
seen. That said, the newspaper headlines and newsreel footage unspooling behind
the closing credits clearly suggest that the rest of the world already hails
Snowden as heroic.
Easy for them. It wasn’t their
covert data that got leaked.
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