Anchors (Out of Four): 
Based on Luke Harden’s 2014 book “The Snowden Files”, Oliver Stone’s (“Scarface”, “Natural Born Killers”) newest film, “Snowden”, follows international fugitive Edward Snowden as he slowly uncovers and subsequently blows the whistle on US government mass surveillance programs. We’ve all heard the story about Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong and eventual settlement in Russia, but Stone’s film attempts to go beyond the headlines and take us into Edward Snowden’s personal and professional life before he became one of the U.S. government’s most wanted.
The story begins with the titular character in Special Forces boot camp, a fitting beginning considering that when Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Premium Rush, The Dark Knight Rises) first speaks in this film, his accent sounds like a soldier’s boots on crushed glass – grating, to say the least. But, by the end of the movie the dedicated listener will begin to accept this otherworldly sound as something close to Snowden’s voice.
That’s not to say his performance is poor in any way. I’ve only seen a few interviews with the actual Edward Snowden, but Gordon-Levitt’s portrayal of his intellect, his social quirks, his mannerisms and his speech patterns all seem to be fairly on the mark. Accent or no, it’s a very believable job, especially when he plays Snowden as we all expect him to be played – the government worker and the spy rather than the loving boyfriend and amateur quail hunter.
What truly shines through in the performance is Snowden’s love of country. Clearly this film was meant to reassure us that Ed Snowden was a patriot, not a traitor. It takes a fairly libertarian stance in doing so, bashing both the Bush and Obama administrations for what it argues are morally questionable surveillance policies and admonishing their supporters for their blind trust in the government.
Indeed, if you thought this movie would be free from any overt political agenda, then you probably also think if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear. We’re not far removed at all from the political controversy surrounding Snowden’s revelations, and the film does a pretty good job of navigating the nuances of the arguments in question without buckling under their moral and political weight. Oliver Stone has been an expert in political intrigue for decades with films like “Platoon” (1986) and “JFK” (1991), and “Snowden” seems to aspire to join this canon of political thrillers.
It gets there most of the time, and especially does so in the “present day” scenes – the ones we’ve seen play out already on CNN and in The Washington Post. When the hacker is simply in his Hong Kong hotel room, talking to Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and his cadre of journalists, pillows blocking the door and the blinds drawn, the tension is palpable and the film is in its best form. It bears noting that one of these journalist, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, created the Academy Award-winning “Citizenfour” (2014) a few couple of years ago.
At other times in the film, Stone has Gordon-Levitt narrate monologues over inserted TV news clips. I guess I could call this cinematographic choice “cool,” but I could also say it reminded me of an iMovie I made about Watergate for my 8th grade U.S. History class.
I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to highlight Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) and his work as CIA agent Corbin O’Brien. There’s also an actor who I’ll let remain a surprise, and I’ll simply say that it’s no surprise that with a mentor like this guy Edward Snowden wound up stealing important American documents.
Although “Snowden” is based on a true story, I won’t spoil the ending for you except for saying it’s very artfully and creatively shot. This movie comes at you with a political message and largely succeeds in delivering it, but it nonetheless comes across as strikingly non-partisan. Instead, it just serves as a call to do the right thing in the face of adversity and a warning to never get too comfortable.
Verdict: Anchor down for this one. Although the government might be able to ping your cell phone signal by the time you’re done watching, sticking around for this movie is worth the wiretap.
Other Movies I saw this week:
Rounders (1998): Matt Damon, Edward Norton, and John Malkovich star in this cult hit about the secret underground of high stakes poker. It’s full of danger and intrigue, but still leaves you with a good feeling at the end. [Insert three anchor symbols]
Zootopia (2016): I haven’t laughed out loud at an animated movie in a long time (perhaps never), but this one had me smiling the whole time and chuckling plenty. [Insert three anchor symbols]