"Snowden" is a talky, fascinating film that spends as much time swirling around the mind-set of the man who stole and revealed NSA secrets as it does exploring the relationship between the self proclaimed whistle blower and his longtime girlfriend.
Joseph Gorden Levitt gives one of his best performances as Edward Snowden playing him both in speech patterns and mannerisms.
It's an uncanny impersonation because Levitt is a deep thinking actor playing a deep thinking individual.
Shailene Woodley is also terrific as his patient, fun loving girlfriend in a movie that questions authority and paints Snowden as a patriot.
Writer, director Oliver Stone has made of a film of surprising restraint by asking more questions than providing answers, and I found the film helpful in my own attempt to wrap my head around such complicated issues of privacy vs. security, even patriotism and freedom.
I like to be challenged in my thinking and good, smart, films usually help me in seeking a clearer picture.
As the film, "Snowden" opens in local theaters, the real Edward Snowden and his girlfriend find themselves living in Russia, unable to return to America without federal prosecution.
The Scene
At one point in Oliver Stone's film the real Snowden shows up and it's a bit creepy to watch. Another complication in a complicated story that has a long road yet to travel.
