Made up entirely of archival news and White House footage, this documentary captures the pageantry, absurdity, and mastery of the made-for-TV politics of Ronald Reagan.
The fact that Ronald Reagan's administration was big on PR and presentation is hardly news, and, though this documentary made up of television footage from the period claims to focus on that aspect of the presidency, it doesn't dig deep.
It's like a time capsule prologue to today's world, no more prescient than when a 1988 Reagan lets on to David Brinkley with exit-interview folksiness that he often wondered "how you could do the job if you hadn't been an actor."
Uncritical, infatuated with Reagan's charisma rather than searching for the chinks in his armour, the film's lively score keeping things balefully light.
