Snowden Review

R: Language and Sexuality/Nudity

Open Road Films, Endgame Entertainment

2 Hrs and 14 Minutes

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Logan Marshall-Green, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer, LaKeith Lee Stanfield, with Rhys Ifans, and Nicolas Cage

"Snowden," the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. 

REVIEW: As a country concerned with our privacy, we know the story of Edward Snowden. When he released encrypted files from the NSA that was the only story concerning the news during June 2013. In 2014, the true documentary on Snowden titled Citizenfour was released and it opened the public’s eyes on what the government is doing to us even when we’re not paying attention. The film got a lot of accolades including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2015. So question is, why is a dramatized narrative of the film needed? When you have director Oliver Stone at the helm, it is bound to have the same fate of accolades Citizenfour did right?

THE GOOD: When it comes to casting, the film does a well rounded job. With having Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, and Tom Wilkinson as Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill respectively was a good choice. Though some look closer to their counterparts than others, they do bring good performances for the brief time they’re on screen. But the film is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s. He does an amazing job as Edward Snowden with not only his look, but his voice, movement, and mannerisms. His performance is so convincing that there are moments you have to remind yourself that this is an actor not really Edward Snowden. If Snowden and Levitt stood side by side and have a Snowden off, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. 

The film really benefits from one main thing that you wouldn’t expect, romance. The scenes between Snowden and his girlfriend Lindsay Mills (played well by Shailene Woodley) are captivating. In a film of nothing but political talk, their romance is the only and real captivating thing that keeps this film going. It may start very cheesy, but as the film goes on you see their challenges of their relationship because you have a man who has to keep classified secrets of the government from his girlfriend even if the secrets involves her. Its not that you genuinely feel for it because the film constantly manipulates you with the music, but its the only thing that grasps your attention. 

A lot of detailed research was put into the film and you can tell. There are scenes where if you know the background of each of the characters due to curiosity, some of their occupations are thrown into the film. For example, Lindsay loves to take picture portraits and you see some of her pictures integrated into the film’s background such as her with a parasol or working out on a pole. Google “Lindsay Mills” and those are the first pictures you’ll see.

THE BAD: If you haven’t seen Citizenfour or haven’t heard anything about Edward Snowden whatsoever, this film is amazing for you because its an educational biopic of him. BUT if you have watched Citizenfour, this film makes one of the most interesting fugitive stories and not only dumbs it down, but makes it dull and silly. There is questionable filmmaking where the camera is moving all over the place than the subject in the frame, it makes an object more thrilling than it needs to be. The music is manipulative. It gets too hammy and hokey that you take out your tiny violin and play it loud and proud.

What makes this political thriller about one of the most intelligent whistleblowers in the world doesn’t work is how much the screenplay lacks both intelligence and thrills. The script is written so thin that its very questionable.There are moments where some things just happen just to land on either a joke or cheap thrill that makes no sense. There is a moment before Snowden enters the CIA headquarters and his car has to be searched, but a dog jump scares him through his window for no reason. They made a dog looking at Snowden into a jump scare. There is a sequence involving a SD card that is made to be the thrilling climax of the whole film but it comes as anything but thrilling. But in Citizenfour, there are sequences of Snowden escaping his hotel from Hong Kong to Russia that is intense. When his hotel’s has a fire alarm and he worries about the NSA finding him. These are type of thrilling elements that the movie needed.

Another major problem is the pacing. There is nothing in Snowden that is really captivating to grasp your attention.  The film’s first hour centered on Snowden working for the CIA breezes through his past and lingers on prolonged conversations with talent thats just wasted. Nicholas Cage shows up for nearly five minutes to give Snowden a speech and is never seen till the very end. It just keeps hitting points in his life during the NSA and how it affects his relationship, but it takes a very boring route. It doesn’t get into the 75 minute mark where Snowden explains metadata and after a solid fifteen minutes it becomes entertaining only to become dull again. It’s an hour and a half longer than it needed to be.

LAST STATEMENT: Oliver Stone’s Snowden take its research to make the subject’s personal story correct, but oversimplifies it with a thin script and cheap thrills. It may contain a great cast and a wonderful performance by Snowden, but its padded out length and lack of entertainment doesn’t do it any justice. If you need a great Edward Snowden film, just watch Citizenfour.

Rating: 2/5 | 44%

Super Scene: Snowden explains Metadata