ATLAS SHRUGGED is a movie that should have been made decades ago simply for the fact that Ayn Rands book is essentially responsible for defining modern conservative thought.
On the good side, the filmmakers were able to create a scenario whereby the railway industry could actually be the lucrative industry required for the protagonists to be relevant in modern times. Although it had no starpower, it did feature some excellent actors who would normally be cast in supporting roles doing a damned fine job owning their roles. I don't think any "A-list" actors could carry this film. Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowling have an interesting chemistry. This is one of the first times I have seen a middle-aged couple on screen and thought, these two need to hurry up and shag. The characters are perfect for each other. Their chemistry is undeniable.
On the bad side, its' attempts to remain true to the book make it completely anachronistic. Regardless of what Glenn Beck says, communism is not the clear and present danger it once was so, instead, the enemy is caricatured liberalism. Rands book at least attempted to make the case that the most successful people acquire their wealth via hard work, but here, their greatest achievement was being ripped from the right crotch at birth. We are told that they work hard, but the examples we see are simply posh dinner and luncheon engagements. Somehow, the characters have time in their busy schedules for long trips across the country acting like second-rate private investigators. Ultimately, the movie ends up being little more than two hours of attractive, over-privileged people flying in their private jets eating filet mignon and lamenting about how bad they have it.
That is not to say I didn't enjoy it, but you have to enjoy it for what it is: political and economic rhetoric. all-in-all, the filmmakers pulled off a palatable film based on a book which I had always presumed to be incapable of being the subject for a movie. That said, the time passed very quickly for me and I am looking forward to seeing the next two installments if they are ever made.
On the good side, the filmmakers were able to create a scenario whereby the railway industry could actually be the lucrative industry required for the protagonists to be relevant in modern times. Although it had no starpower, it did feature some excellent actors who would normally be cast in supporting roles doing a damned fine job owning their roles. I don't think any "A-list" actors could carry this film. Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowling have an interesting chemistry. This is one of the first times I have seen a middle-aged couple on screen and thought, these two need to hurry up and shag. The characters are perfect for each other. Their chemistry is undeniable.
On the bad side, its' attempts to remain true to the book make it completely anachronistic. Regardless of what Glenn Beck says, communism is not the clear and present danger it once was so, instead, the enemy is caricatured liberalism. Rands book at least attempted to make the case that the most successful people acquire their wealth via hard work, but here, their greatest achievement was being ripped from the right crotch at birth. We are told that they work hard, but the examples we see are simply posh dinner and luncheon engagements. Somehow, the characters have time in their busy schedules for long trips across the country acting like second-rate private investigators. Ultimately, the movie ends up being little more than two hours of attractive, over-privileged people flying in their private jets eating filet mignon and lamenting about how bad they have it.
That is not to say I didn't enjoy it, but you have to enjoy it for what it is: political and economic rhetoric. all-in-all, the filmmakers pulled off a palatable film based on a book which I had always presumed to be incapable of being the subject for a movie. That said, the time passed very quickly for me and I am looking forward to seeing the next two installments if they are ever made.