"Snowden" is an interesting, informative and well-told, but one-sided portrayal of the infamous NSA leaker.

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2016)

The story of NSA leaker / whistleblower Edward Snowden has been told before, but never like this. Books have been published, magazine articles have been written, songs have been sung, a graphic novel has been illustrated and even an action figure created depicting the man responsible for the biggest leak of classified documents in U.S. history. Then, of course, there are the movies. Documentaries on Snowden include "Citizenfour", which won the 2014 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The highest profile feature-length drama to date about this highly controversial figure is 2016's "Snowden" (R, 2:14) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and directed by Oscar-winner Oliver Stone, who based his screenplay on two books about his title character and had a series of meetings with Snowden while in exile in Russia.
Two days before the film's official U.S. release, in select cities around the country, special screenings were held, in conjunction with a live interview with the film's stars and director in New York, as well as Edward Snowden himself, via satellite from Moscow. "The amount of care" that went into the movie, said Snowden, "is reassuring." Stone acknowledged the complexity of the story, saying that it took quite a few visits with Snowden to get the details right. "It took time to really absorb this stuff," said Stone. Gordon-Levitt, who does a great job of imitating Snowden's voice and mannerisms, talked about how Snowden's parents thanked him for his portrayal of their son when the actor met them at the film's New York premiere. For his part, Snowden discussed why he revealed the U.S. government's intrusive surveillance of its own citizens and others saying, "Privacy is the right to the self." That is what he feels that his activities have helped to protect. All these themes and more are on display in Stone's film.
The time and place that is at the center of the film is Snowden's discussions with journalists (played by Tom Wilkinson and Zachary Quinto) in a Hong Kong hotel room, as they all strategized about the release of the documents that Snowden took from the NSA site where he worked. All the while, filmmaker Laura Poitras (Oscar winner Melissa Leo) is capturing the video that she'll later use in "Citizenfour". As the group inches closer to the fateful moment of breaking one of the biggest stories of the decade, the film portrays periods of time in Snowden's life which eventually led to him hiding in Hong Kong, before going on to Russia. We see Snowden's Army training, his CIA training and service in Geneva and his employment as an NSA contractor in Japan, Maryland and, finally, at a top secret facility in Hawaii.
There were just a few constants during these experiences in Snowden's life. One of those was his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley). Stone sees the portrayal of Ed and Lindsay's relationship as what kept the film from being "a hard, cold movie which could almost look like a documentary." We see Snowden mentored by his first CIA instructor (Rhys Ifans) and, to a lesser extent, by a CIA employee played by Nicolas Cage. The film also features Snowden's abiding desire to serve his country and his patriotism, which is what he says led him to expose the NSA's data collection programs. All of this serves to humanize Snowden. "Until this movie, none of us really knew the story of Ed the human," said Woodley. Regardless of what you think about this man or the things he did while working for our government, what Woodley said is indeed what we get – a more human picture of Edward Snowden.
"Snowden" is a well-constructed human story, albeit a one-sided portrayal. Aided by excellent performances, especially from Gordon-Levitt and Woodley, we feel like we get to know these characters and what makes them tick, as we follow Snowden's gradual transition from someone who completely supported his government's actions in the post-9/11 world, to a man who became disillusioned with the government's activities conducted in the name of national security. The script, co-written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald, gives us just enough of the computer activity to help us understand what's going on, but doesn't let us get lost in technical jargon (although there are times when the movie walks a very fine line). The political and privacy issues are well-addressed, but little attention is given to explanations of why the government did the things it did the way it did them, or the widespread repercussions of Snowden's actions. If you're looking to learn and understand more about Edward Snowden's story and the privacy issues he raised, or if you just want to see a well-written and well-acted drama-thriller, then this is your movie, but if you'd like a deeper or a more objective version of this story, keep looking. "B+"