Eye opening

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2017)

Whether one supports what Snowden did or not, this movie is watchable, well made and well acted.
Before this movie I wasn't that familiar with what he actually disclosed except that it was overreaching by the NSA spying on everyone including innocent people and friendly countries and their heads of state like Angela Merkel. Oliver Stone does a good job of showing Snowden's story from his beginnings in cyber security to his disillusionment. By the end of the movie the point is clear - the NSA was spying on people for reasons beyond terrorism like economic gain. And the point of the people disclosing the scandal is that invasion of privacy violates our civil rights and undermines freedom and democracy. Also cover up by the NSA CIA and the administration is shown. So the case in support of disclosure is made. For completeness I would have liked some characters arguing against disclosure like if the disclosures compromised terrorist surveillance and let the main characters rebut their arguments.
It helps to watch Citizenfour before or at least know what about the main disclosures because the characters speak very fast and sometimes the viewer can get lost during the technical dialog. Maybe some narration would have helped.
Joseph Gordon Levitt now slightly older looking does a good job of imitating Snowden's voice and manner. He portrays him as calm logical intelligent and sure that what he is doing is right. Shaliene Woodley plays his loyal girlfriend Lindsay.
Nice on location filming around the world including Hong Kong.
Even for people who can't decide if he is a hero or not this eye opening movie make the viewer think about how much we are all being watched. Also about the consequences of whistle blowing.