A Truly Excellent Film With Surprises -- A Must See

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2016)

Great actors, great cinematography, great set design, great script, great direction, fascinating and meaningful story line.
This movie was a heck of a lot better than I ever expected from Oliver Stone. To be honest, I was super disappointed with his film JFK, both because it came off confusing and complex while at the same time (I felt) left out important information and included what was probably misinformation. But then again, that was a really, really tough story to take on. Still, I could barely sit through it.
Not so with this story. This time Oliver knows the story from the horse's mouth -- Snowden himself. In addition, Edward Snowden appears to have revealed aspects of his story that to my knowledge have heretofore not come out. I did not expect to learn so much more about his reasons for becoming a whistleblower (as they seemed always so obvious), but some surprises in the film showed me how he surely felt compelled to a degree I never imagined.
What can I tell you about this movie beyond that? I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say too much more, except to say this is the only movie I have ever watched in my entire life at the movie theater and then felt compelled to go watch it again before it leaves town. In this film Stone did not make it too complex. Complexities are revealed without causing confusion. I can DIGEST this film. However, when I get surprised my mind tends to lapse into a stunned mode, and for this reason I feel sure I missed some delectable tidbits while savoring such surprises, and I don't want to miss a thing.
In my town I am very sorry to see that only two theaters even carried the film. It has already quit playing where I saw it a few days ago, and I will be seeing it on its last day in the other other place in town that is showing it, and this is Austin, Texas where we usually have "everything." If you live in a place where you can't see it in a theater, definitely seek it out online or buy the DVD. I will definitely want the DVD.