Review of Reds (1981) by John B — 27 Sep 2008
It essentially never drops its focus on the relationship between John Reed and Louise Bryant, presumably for the sake of maintaining the interest of a movie audience thatâ??s much more attuned to personal stories than to historical and political ones; it might as well have been called Jack and Louise Lived and Loved in Interesting Times.
Nonetheless, itâ??s enjoyable and admirable (and for all I know innovative, at least as far as large-scale, relatively mainstream American movies are concerned) for intermingling the enacted historical story with the reminiscences of what the credits call â??witnesses,â?? both known (Will Durant, Henry Miller, Will Durant) and unknown, and for a few unusual casting choices: using George Plimpton as a patrician publisher and Jerzy Kosinski (whose feisty ferocity I loved) as Grigory Zinoviev.
It even used someone with the last name of Kerensky in the role of Russian president Alexander Kerensky.
This review of Reds (1981) was written by John B on 27 Sep 2008.
Reds has generally received very positive reviews.
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