Reds (1981) - Film Review

Plot: Story of Communist John "Jack" Reed from 1916-1920 and his love interest -  Louise Bryant.
Stars:  Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton,  Jack Nicholson, Maureen Stapleton,  Gene Hackman
Best Quote: I have to make an absolutely conventional, corny love story. I want a puppy, I want American Flags and Christmas trees. I want every hokey, old-fashioned Hollywood convention we can come up with, so we can hang the rest of the story on them - Warren Beatty to the Scriptwriters.

Why the Movie was Made
Reds was released in the midst of the Cold War (Reagan had just called the USSR "An Evil Empire") and this was Left-wing Beatty's attempt  to drum up sympathy for Communism/USSR.  He wanted critical praise and the admiration of the Hollywood Establishment for "courageously" making a politically correct movie.

How Beatty made "Reds" A Commercial Success
Of course, Beatty wanted more than plaudits from Leftist critics, he wanted $$$. So, he set about "Mainstreaming" John Reed's Life by:

• Making Reed's story into a romance. And tossing out the truth. 
• Having Cool Old folks tell us about Jack and Louise 
• Casting very good  - but very Americans - actors
• Showing us lots of Flags, Dogs, and Christmas Trees (see quote)
• Turning Reed/Bryant from Commies into well-intentioned "strong liberals".
• De-emphasizing their Atheism and contempt for marriage. After all, its a romance!
• Making Reed likable, brave but bewildered - aka the standard  Beatty Character
• Ignoring Reed's Famous Book "Ten Days that Shook the World". 

Reds - as  a Movie

Well, I enjoyed it. In fact, I've seen it three times. The acting is good, the interviews are fascinating, and the cinematography is excellent. I also like the soundtrack.  And to top it all - I'm interested in the Russian Revolution. Once, you ignore the intellectual dishonesty of  "glamorizing" two Communists - who were actually rather nasty people - its quite interesting.

The movie has two flaws:  Its goes on too long, and Beatty puts too many "cutesy"  fake scenes in the film. Do we really need the dog pawing at the door - 4 times.  Or Beatty doing his standard klutzy nice guy act?  And its too bad, we didn't spend more time in the USSR and address the real issues - but that would have hurt ticket sales. 

Warren Beatty's Acting
Incredibly, Beatty was nominated for a AA Best Actor.  Its hard to see why,  Beatty repeats the same character, he played in Shampoo, McCabe and Mrs Miller and Heaven can Wait,  the charming, well-meaning, but not-as-smart-as-he-thinks, bewildered by women, nice guy. If you were to randomly mix-up Beatty acting scenes from his 1970-1988 movies, and show them to people who never seen them, how many people would know he was playing different characters? 

Best Scene:

The interviews with people who knew the real-life John Reed.
Worst Scene:
 Stealing from an old I Love Lucy episode,  Beatty puts on an apron and incompetently tries to cook dinner.  All that's missing is the laugh track.

Summary:  One of Beatty's best movies, this is a well-shot romance that's short on historical truth but long on production values and good acting. Did Beatty really deserve the "Best Direction" AA award? Probably not.  But its still a good movie.  Rating  3.5 out of 4