Review of Snowden (2016) by Glenn G — 24 Sep 2016

THE SPY WHO WENT INTO THE COLD - My Review of SNOWDEN (3 Stars).

Has Oliver Stone become a humanistic filmmaker? If so, is that a good thing? Those are the questions I kept asking myself while watching his latest film, SNOWDEN, the biopic starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the former CIA communications expert turned NSA computer expert turned whistleblower who exposed government surveillance operations that monitor all of our keystrokes, conversations and GPS locations. Some have called Snowden a hero, while others think of him as a traitor, a dissident, or even a spy for the Russians. Clearly, Stone's version of events, along with co-screenwriter Kieran Fitzgerald, paints him as the former, which is certainly a valid point of view, but one that slightly robs the film of its greater social context.

Many of Stone's prior films, especially NATURAL BORN KILLERS, demonstrated an impatience with standard storytelling techniques to the point where you wished he would slow things down to at least Michael Bay levels. With SNOWDEN, he's so subdued, it would be easy to mistake this film as one directed by [insert faceless studio hack here], were it not for the passion he shows for his subject.

Levitt seems to be trying on accents lately with his wild French accent in THE WALK to his flat, hardened North Carolina pronunciations in SNOWDEN. It makes him compelling to watch and grounds the movie with a character whose demeanor I don't think I've ever quite seen depicted before. Lacking that big showy Oscar bait scene feels like a good thing, as Snowden approaches TALENTED MR. RIPLEY levels of detachment. It's a strong, unfussy performance and one that succeeds in conveying ambiguity as to the righteousness of his decisions.

A couple of sequences stand out in the film allowing Stone to reach Danny Boyle-level heights of cinematic expression. One is a Skype call between Snowden and his CIA mentor (Rhys Ifans). It's a tense, creepy showdown made even more compelling by choosing to project Ifans' image against a wall to convey his utter dominance over Snowden. Ifans does great work in this film in a role typically reserved for Donald Sutherland. He's a character who seems to always be one step ahead of his charge until, well, he isn't. It's a fascinating arc to watch. Another is the scene in which Snowden smuggles out his information inside a Rubik's Cube. While we don't know for sure if this scene actually happened, it's such an absurdly perfect and simple way to steal the biggest government secrets since Watergate.

Performances are good across the board, including a fun cameo by Nicholas Cage, Shailene Woodley as Snowden's long-suffering girlfriend, and especially Ben Schnetzer as one of Snowden's colleagues. Schnetzer, you may recall, starred in PRIDE as the main activist with an accent so convincing you would never guess he's from New York. Here, he transforms himself into a skater dude computer whiz and brings such a fun energy to his scenes. Keep your eye on this actor as I think he's seriously one to watch.

One big quibble is that Stone robs Levitt of a big moment by choosing to use the real Snowden instead. Sure, it's been done before, especially in biopics. Think the real Tina Turner appearing in the end credits of WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT or Sully Sullenberger doing the same at the end of SULLY. But here's the catch - Snowden isn't appearing as himself in some archival footage. It's him reciting dramatic lines at a key moment that would have been better suited to a real actor, like, I don't know, perhaps the real actor hired for the part? I wouldn't have minded seeing a documentary interview of Snowden in the final credits, but this scene happens before that and dilutes the impact somewhat. It's a strange miscalculation on Stone's part.

On a more global level, it was tough for me to watch this film and not think what someone like Martin Scorsese would have done with the subject. I think of that great final shot in CASINO, where we dissolve from our main story to a shot of modern day Las Vegas tourists waddling down a staircase to enter a casino. The entire dramatic story of that film got reduced to demonstrate where all of those big dreams led....to just another capitalist venture to kill the average person's boredom. My gut tells me Scorsese would have contextualized SNOWDEN more than Stone by showing young millennials at the end tweeting their hearts out and exposing every minute of their lives on Facebook and Snapchat. Snowden ay have blown the lid off of government surveillance, but more and more, I'm convinced that most people just don't care. When everyone is already documenting their lives, who cares if Big Brother is listening?