Snowden is an Icon.

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2016)

Oliver Stone did wonderful work when directing this film not only to showcase the true facts but once again he allowed the viewers to make their own decisions to deem this event right or wrong. Edward Snowden has become an Icon for many Americans but, more so, an Icon for many others in other countries. Which is why I was pleased with how this movie was done but I was very pleased that it was made at all.
Starting this review off I am going to discuss the one problem I had with the film which was the length of it. Yes, I am aware of how much information had to go into the movie and how each detail was important but that doesn't change the fact that it felt about 20 minutes to long for me. To pinpoint the scenes that could have been shortened or taken out completely I would have to watch the movie again, and believe me I will, but until then all in all it just felt to long. Many people, not only in America but in the world, knew what had happened with Edward Snowden because it was a huge piece of news to everybody so some of the knowledge was common knowledge. Since some knowledge was common knowledge I felt like it would have been easy to shorten the film by just a small amount, but then again, I don't know how much information Edward Snowden wanted portrayed in this film.
Onto the most interesting piece of information I encountered in this film was how Edward Snowden smuggled the files out and sadly the world may never know exactly how he did it. However, what I specifically liked about the context of this scene was the fact Edward Snowden came up with it. He was interviewed for this film to make the facts as accurate as possible and the smuggling was the only part that he would not give answers on but he gave Oliver Stone the idea. Which makes us all question if that is how he did it.
All in all while this movie was a bit on the longer side I was very happy with how things turned out and how, as an audience viewer, we were able to look onto Snowden's life as a whole and not just the portion that was in the media. We got to see some friendships grow, his relationship go through ups and downs, how he was influenced by the NSA and what they made him do. It was more than just the smuggling of some files, it was a life story that was beautifully directed with Oscar Worthy performances from every actor. A definite must see.