SNOWDEN: Stone's Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 2016)

Early in the film and due to his injuries, Edward Snowden's military career is over. "Plenty of other ways to serve your country", is what he's told. Soon afterwards – while beginning to understand his work as a government-intelligence-agency 'spook' – he hears the phrase "Family comes first" in a very telling way. He learns quickly that the desire for national security knows no bounds, and the betrayal of even trusted information sources is fair game.
Thus begins this fabulous morality play: do the data needs of the U.S. government outweigh the rights of its citizens? Knowing what he does, must Snowden share his secrets with the world? Shailene Woodley's turn in 'THE DESCENDANTS' was fabulous; she's wonderful here, as well. Portraying Snowden's girlfriend, she provides the human-side of the losses Edward faces. The film-within-a-film crew is terrific; the cinematographer among them is the other strong female character. The entire cast and crew have done a wonderful job on this, Oliver Stone's best work.
The cinematography, lighting, music, and special effects nail this production down perfectly. Hell, the fact that a microwave oven blocks UHF frequencies, sure was news to me. The dialogue delivers some memorable lines, such as: "Most Americans don't want freedom, they want security"; "One man can stop the motor of the world"; and "The modern battlefield is everywhere."
Is this an 'epic' film? As a four-letter acronym in the movie, it references a newer definition for epic: Electronic Privacy Information Center. Here's the URL for more information on this: https://epic.org/. I can't wait to have 'SNOWDEN' in my film library, it's that good.