digitalbeachbum
When you look at a production you must always remember there are script writers and a director as well producers involved with the creation of the production.There are agendas and deadlines, as well, requirements for length, language, legal and other variables to take in to consideration.Names, places and times are changed. Scripts are written to fit a mold.While this movie presents the ideal of stopping a Big Brother government from spying on all the people and collecting information to be used at a later time against the public should you do something considered to be a threat to the political and religious nature of the government, it is still a movie.I thought the casting was very good, the script moved along smoothly. I enjoyed the cinematography. I enjoyed the ending.However, I do not believe Snowden is a patriot but I do not believe he is a terrorist either. He is a young man who was put in to a position of questioning his job and the desire for his government to spy on their own people.He had morals and ethics, which is more than I can say for any part of the American government for the last 100 years. He felt what was happening was wrong and that he needed to expose the truth.I do not believe what he did was wrong, I think he did it for righteous reasons, but he also harmed America and released information which set in motion another moment when America was weakened and put in to a position of international stress.It's a good movie, but it isn't perfect.
Jithin K Mohan
I thought this wouldn't make such an impact after Citizen four but this film was able to show many things that were quite vague in the documentary while omitting much that is in it. As a biopic the film struggles in creating the situations in Snowden's life but I believe this works the best as a double bill with the documentary. Perfectly showing the true story directly through the whistle-blower and showing the back stories that lead to this situation. America's thirst to stay as the superpower is quite something that they want the people to stand up for the gun laws instead of problems such as these.Joseph Gorden Levitt never ceases to surprise and Oliver Stone knows how to deal with controversial subjects
mpaulso
Pretty decent movie. Somehow missed this one the last few years but figured I would give it a try when I saw it on HBO.It's interesting seeing Snowden's background. It was also really creepy to see the example of the technology that the NSA was using to spy on American's and those abroad. I had previously watched Citizenfour so I had known about the meeting in Hong Kong and about the leak of information.. However I will say he definitely was glamorized and made to look like the victim in this movie. It was made to be seen from his side.
dubaijourno
Not Oliver Stone's best work, but nicely paced. JGL is OK but has failed to capture how enigmatic Edward Snowden actually is (as seen in Laura poitras' Citiznfour). Let's just jump straight to Rhys Ifans portrayal of CIA mentor Corbin O'Brian. Mesmerising, everything else fades into the background whenever he's on screen. I'll be absolutely gobsmacked if he's not cast as the supervillain in the next Bond movie.
AD
