REVIEW: Snowden

The last Oliver Stone movie I saw was Savages.  It left me feeling unimpressed.  It lacked compelling characters and had a jerky story telling narrative.  It was a long way from the all time classic, Platoon.  That is one of my favourite war movies of all time, and it shows everything that Oliver Stone is capable of as a director and script writer.  It is a haunting tale of a child born of two fathers in war, needing to choose which one to follow.

Going into Snowden, I didn't know which Oliver Stone to expect.  Would it be the one who crafts characters from the ground up, magnifying their struggles, or would it be the more scattershot version that was seen in Savages?  I can luckily say that it was closer to the former than the latter.

Snowden tells the story of Edward Snowden (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a man who needs little introduction.  The movie starts off with his meeting of members of the press and film-maker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo).  Those meetings are central to the film, as the rest is the backdrop of Snowden's story of trying to get into the military, and then ending up being a contractor for the CIA and NSA.

The real strength of this movie is the acting performance by Gordon-Levitt, whose portrayal of Edward Snowden is spot on.  He is soft spoken, patient, and eager to learn.  He is also driven by a large moral compass, which may end up being the biggest weakness of the film as well.  When Snowden is confronted with examples of government overreach, there is no real inner turmoil as to how to respond.  It is clear that Oliver Stone sees Edward Snowden as a hero, and this is reflected in the script and how the movie is directed.

This is a problem because the leaks brought to us by Edward Snowden have caused a huge debate over privacy and security.  It is something that is still reverberating today, as those discussions continue with governments wanting back doors into encrypted messaging systems.  Well, that's not true.  They know that saying the word 'back door' is going to rile the public against them because of the intense metadata that they had collected before, so they don't use this word.  But, what they are asking for is essentially that.  The point is, the Snowden leaks are something that have forever changed the landscape of the electronic world, and there are valid points to be seen on both sides.  The movie steers clear of properly making justifications without villainizing the characters central to that argument.  The fact that there is an obvious bias towards what Edward Snowden did does take some of the teeth out of this movie, which could have otherwise served as a great piece to continue the existing debate.

That issue aside, this is a really solid film from Stone, who uses pacing, his shots, and the score Craig Armstrong to create tension and make it roll out like a thriller in some points.  There have been some great movies that are able to create this sort of tension without having scenes with chases and violence, and Snowden stands up as one of them.

Central to the story is the relationship between Edward Snowden and his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).  Woodley's performance is easily one of her best, and it is of vast importance to the success of this movie to get the power of the relationship right.  For Edward Snowden to release the data, he is having to choose between what's best for the public interest, or what's best for him.  To not disclose it means he gets to keep his life with his love, but to disseminate it means to possibly lose out on the relationship, as he would have to flee the United States.

The chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Woodley is impeccable.  It is easy to accept them as a couple of love birds, and we are introduced to the struggles that they have to get through to make the relationship work long term.  It is a relationship that is easy to accept and cheer for.  Without that, we would not get a full sense of what was at stake when Edward Snowden made his decision to do what he did.

While I am talking about that, I do realize that I have another small issue with the movie.  It never really invites the audience member into the shoes of Edward Snowden and make them ask if they would do the same thing, risking their lives and their relationships.  This is because the character of Edward Snowden, as portrayed in the movie, is a moving vessel that never really stops to allow the audience to climb aboard.

There have been a few things that I have mentioned as being issues with the movie, but those are more things that arrive out of missed opportunities.  This film could have easily been one of the major cinematic talking points of the last few years, but the bias towards Edward Snowden robbed it of being a topic of discussion in coffee shops and class rooms.  For that, you need to check out the documentary Citizenfour.

While there are issues, what is clear about this movie is that it is a solid work of art.  Stone uses all of the techniques in the book, and borrows some from documentary film making (which could create a disjointed experience for some viewers, but I found it to work).  What we are treated with in the end is a piece of cinema that captures the interest of the viewer, and takes them through the unravelling of one of the biggest social revelations of our time, and it is done while being vastly entertaining at the same time.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

PS - Melissa Leo is fantastic as always.