By Katelyn Needham
Photo courtesy Open Road Films
This Oliver Stone hit might leave audiences feeling a little paranoid about the presence of Big Brother in their everyday lives.
The film Snowden details the events that led up to CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) release of critical NSA information about the surveillance of the United States population.
From the tapped cameras, surveyed emails and spying cell phones, it’s easy to see why Snowden felt he needed to release the information in the first place.
Snowden is one of the more relevant films that Stone has made recently. It is somewhat politically risky, and for people who don’t have much background on Snowden and what happened, it will be an eye-opening film.
Stone wrote a solid script, and all the cast members fulfilled their duty of creating realistic roles. Levitt portrays Snowden well and as accurately as one could hope for, even taking the time to master Snowden’s slow and slightly monotone voice.
The film uses flashbacks throughout to depict what happened up to the point of his interview with the Guardian newspaper, where he divulges the NSA’s dirty laundry. The timeline isn’t hard to follow as it is with some movies, and it keeps the audience on its toes. However, some of the hacker lingo can be hard to follow at times especially in the more fast-paced scenes, but it’s nothing that diminishes the quality of the film.
Overall, the film engages the audience and urges viewers to think about the world around them and the government specifically. It will no doubt spark conversation again about Snowden and whether his actions were moral.
Maybe that’s what this generation needs — a good movie that will be a political conversation starter and get people more involved.
But that’s a lot to ask of a single film.
