Snow Job

Rating: 6/10 (18 September 2016)

(RATING: ☆☆☆ out of 5 ) THIS FILM IS MILDLY RECOMMENDED. IN BRIEF: A slightly disappointing character study that suffers from conventional storytelling. GRADE: C+ SYNOPSIS: The life of Edward Snowden. Oliver Stone has always been an audacious and exciting filmmaker. He uses his anger about certain causes as his inspiration. Even when his narrative becomes sanctimonious and convoluted, his visual flair and kinetic style compensates for his grandstanding on political issues. His films carry his unique vision along with his political message that energizes his craft. His excesses hide a multitude of flaws in his storytelling. Such is the case with his latest venture, Snowden. The subject is controversial from the start. Villain or hero? Spy or whistle-blower? Egotist or crusader? Traitor or patriot? Whatever your viewpoint, be it liberal or conservative, his story remains a good mystery to tell. Of course, Mr. Stone takes the latter road to travel, painting this young computer geek as a saintly moral person caught between governmental conspiracies and cover-ups. Snowden follows the prototype of many of Stone's antiheroes from his other films. a common man riling up against the establishment. Big Brother conspiracy theories and paranoia abound. He structures the film as a flashback, from 2013 with Laura Poitras' documentary, Citizenfour, as the starting point (a good plot device) before going back to 2004 with Edward Snowden as a ill-equipped recruit with an overabundance of patriotic vigor who loves America and believes wholeheartedly in its conservative values. Then a brief stint with the CIA and on to a productive life as a National Security Agency lackey, always with that same pro-American sentiment. This attitude will, of course, change as he becomes corrupted by the system. The problem with this film is a preachy script that simplified its complex subject to the point of tedium. The film bores rather than excites. The film's ongoing motif, that Big-Brother-is- watching theme, is completely overstated, so evident in a scene of 1984 hysteria involving a large over-sized head spouting hateful rhetoric to a small insignificant Snowden figure. For the most part, Mr. Stone's vision is straightforward, making his title character a candidate for canonization from the onset rather than show any of Snowden's human flaws. His Snowden is a shy introverted idealist who becomes jaded with the military machine and with the governmental agencies as his employer. The screenplay, by the director and Kieran Fitzgerald, plays it too safe and politicizes its already political character as a mere pawn. It is in need of some major re-writing. One of the director's initial missteps is trying to span nearly ten years of Snowden's life instead of focusing on his more interesting later years prior to his criminal act, or his whistle-blowing, depending one your own viewpoint. It comes off as a Readers' Digest abridged version. Granted, Mr. Stone honestly acknowledges that this film is a dramatization, even if it is based on facts, but the drama is seriously missing, placing the solemn seriousness front and center. The other gaffe is putting the real Edward Snowden in the film's conclusion, creating a jarring reaction that mixes fiction and reality with an aftertaste that smacks of pure propaganda. Throughout the film, Mr. Stone lays all of the blame on the American government's illegal surveillance tactics upon its citizens and none of the irresponsibility with Snowden's covert espionage actions and its possible repercussions to its agents. This send the film into Crazyville mode, especially hearing the real Snowden expounding scripted words in his own defense. Except for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is quite compelling as Snowden, and a fine performance by an unrecognizable Rhys Ifans, all the other roles are sketchy and not well developed. Especially lacking any depth is the romantic relationship with Snowden's girlfriend, Lindsey Mills, which should be the central emotional connection with the movie-going audience. Shailene Woodley tries to add some nuance to her under-written character, but again the screenplay lets her and the other actors down. Snowden is a well-crafted film, nicely filmed by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. The film is a visual treat. Oliver Stone cannot make anything that looks remotely inferior. He is a master showman, always was and always will be. But his wobbly narrative, of which he is partially to blame, cannot keep up with his strong images. Sadly, Snowden becomes the ultimate snow job. NOTE: Don't miss the end credits. They are the most focused and powerful part of the film with Peter Gabriel's lovely original song, The Veil, scored with wonderful archival footage and graphics concisely edited to maximum effect.