Traitor or patriot, Snowden's story remains relevant

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2018)

Oliver Stone's storied career as a director is well known to many. Usually finding inspiration in subject matter that's within the political realm, he has a way of telling stories that usually end up causing a side of the aisle to get annoyed.
In 'Snowden,' we get a behind the scenes look at the shaping of the man who would go on to become one of this country's most infamous whistleblowers. While Edward Snowden is viewed by many as a traitor, and others as a patriot, it's clear there was a major transformation that happened to the former CIA agent as he experienced various events that gave him pause due to privacy concerns. We get to see this evolution, from a young man whose faith in government could not be shaken to a skeptic who went to great lengths to expose an intricate network of spy games.
While Joseph Gordon-Levitt has proven to be a fairly versatile actor to date, it's clear his resemblance to Snowden helped him get the part. Gordon-Levitt does a good job capturing his dry, shy demeanor, coming across as being authentic. There are also noteworthy performances from Shailene Woodley as Snowden's girlfriend from the other side of the tracks, as well as supporting actors Melissa Leo and Zachary Quinto as the documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist duo who help Snowden tell his story to the world. In a dramatic thriller of this kind, these performances carry a lot of weight, and fortunately they are on point here.
What Stone does well here is telling the story through a series of important events in Snowden's career that help setup the rationale for why he did what he did. Everything is laid out in a very linear manner, and it works well here. While 'Snowden' is not intended to be a 'Jason Bourne'-style spy thriller, it is entertaining and interesting all the same, and still as relevant today as it was five years ago when it actually happened.