Atlas Shrugged Part 1 Review
I have been keeping an eye out for this movie for some time, I have seen one group or another pick up the rights to Atlas Shrugged over the last 10 years, most wanted to make a movie out of it and at one point a mini series out of it, which I thought made the most sense. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were at one point slated to be in an Atlas Shrugged Movie. Like most fans of Atlas Shrugged I was on the fence, yes I wanted to see this book and its characters come alive on a small or large screen and in doing so making the characters and ideas accessible to more people, but at the same time could you really do the 1000+ page novel in 2-3 hours, and the reality was probably not. I am happy that the producers decided to split the book into its three parts and make three separate installments, that certainly makes it less challenging but still difficult. Now that the producers had 6 hours to tell the story, I was pulled more toward the enthusiastic side of the fence I was on.
To be clear I am fan of the book so I went to the theater with the predisposition of wanting to like this film, I am only really putting my thoughts down on “paper,” at the request of some of my friends who are on the more skeptical side of the fence and asked me what I thought of the film. In general with expectation that even with 6 hours (assuming the other two parts are made, nothing is certain in life or Hollywood)to play with that it would be hard to completely represent the novel perfectly, I liked the movie, and I’m glad that I went to see it on opening day. Was the film perfect?, no but I did enjoy seeing the characters on the big screen and it was true enough to the book and for me that out-weighed the deficiencies.
From the beginning casting was a concern, imdb.com revealed a lot of names that were not exactly household names, but that was to be expected in my opinion as I’m sure that Atlas Shrugged is not a favorite of the Hollywood types and it would either take people with a lot of courage to thumb their nose at the Hollywood establishment or people trying to make a name for themselves. Originally I had concerns about Dagny and Hank Reardon, now that I have seen the movie I am happy with the casting for the most part. Taylor Shilling was a convincing Dagny, and Grant Bowler was a competent Henry Reardon, and the people you had a visceral disdain for in the book, Wesley Mouch, Phillip Reardon, and Lillian Reardon pretty much turned my stomach on film. While John Galt was really just a shadowy figure at this point I felt he may be the weak link. The few appearances of Paul Johansson’s John Galt seemed forced and heavy handed, the good news you really don’t ever get a gook look at him so they can fix it. The bottom line is that I felt I was watching Dagny, Hank, Lillian, and not actors playing them.
If you have read Atlas Shrugged then I can’t tell you much about the story that you don’t already know, but there are some things unique to the film that you need to be prepared for. In order to avoid doing a period piece they attempted to a trick to make the the story more contemporary, rather than make the story set in 30’s and 40’s, they set the film in the very near future (2016), and in order to make the railroad relevant to modern audiences the file was set in post fuel crisis America where the US is largely cut off from International oil, alternatives are obviously not panning out, and outside of Ellis Wyatt no one is producing and domestic fuel, so the country has returned to the railroad as a major source of transport. The first five minutes pretty much established this new time-line and the rest of the movie is pretty much true to the book as much as 350 or so pages can be in an hour and forty five minutes.
That being said the story does seem rushed, much like the Fountainhead movie seemed to me, but if you know the book your brain fills in the gaps nicely, After setting the scene in the future you are thrust into the middle of the Rio-Norte Line dilemma and the Equalization of Opportunity Bill, and it goes fast from there. It goes so fast that I’m not sure it would be good exposure for someone unfamiliar with the book, so keep that in mind you intend to go with some who is on the fence about reading Atlas Shrugged. I feel they were about as true to the book as they could have been in an hour and forty minutes, not that its perfect and you certainly find things to nit-pick but on balance it was a B+ effort cramming Part one into movie format.
Most of what was glossed over from the story I could live with, but there was on thing that I really felt they missed the mark on and that was the whole conversation with Ivy Starnes and the altruistic compensation plan that brought about the downfall of the 20th Century motor Company. They should have spent more time on how that happened and should have had Ivy Starnes tell the story and expose the face of evil, instead they just had Reardon explain it to Dagny on the drive to the plant, I felt they missed and opportunity to relay one of the major points of the book. There were other smaller things (nit-picks, but still enjoyed the movie), because attempt to bring the novel into the near future they skipped opening of the book, I wold have really liked to see the city, with the lights out and the calendar in the skyline as Eddie Willers walked by. I also wanted to see Hugh Akston make that hamburger, Ayn Rand vividly described the philosophy professor making that hamburger, I wanted to see it, a small point but I would have liked to see it. The last thing that comes to mind and this is a minor concern, was for the most part they ignored the cigarette with the dollar sign for most of the film, it was absent in all the disappearances of Mulligan, McNamara, and Wyatt, but they made a point of showing it when Dagny was speaking to Akston at the diner and there was no indication that Dagny noticed it.
When I walked out of the theater I was happily satisfied with what I saw, part of me wanted to find fault with it but in the end I was happy to spend some time with the characters that I enjoyed from the book, and for me that is what it was all about. The question I have been asked is should a “fence sitter” go see it and my answer is yes, for me it was worth it to see Dagny, Hank, and Francisco on the big screen. Just seeing the rails made of Reardon Metal stretching though beautiful Colorado vistas was inspiring. Not every one will like the film people who should stay away include people who are looking for a verbatim recitation of the book, you wont find it in this film or probably ever, also if you are the kind of person who lets some of the small details bother you like Hugh Akston not making the burger, or “its 2016 why are they looking at paper files and not a tablet computer” and if you believe that Atlas Shrugged should have never been made into a movie I doubt that this movie will convince you otherwise, then don’t go. Most fans of the book will enjoy seeing Dagny, Hank, Eddie, Ellis,and Francisco and for that alone it will be well worth going, and when you think about it may be the only time in most of life times to see the Characters brought to life in the movies, given how long this movie took to come into reality, if the film does not do well there won’t be financial incentive to try again so if your waiting for a better version film you probably won't see it your life time.
A qualified 4 out of 5 dollar signs.
