Snowden (2016)

Written by GenerationofSwine on January 14, 2023

What happened to Oliver Stone? Once upon a time you could sit down and watch a film, and knew he was the director just by the cuts alone, not to mention the atmosphere and over-all look of the presentation.

This doesn't look like an Oliver Stone film.

The script sounds like a Stone film. The plot is certainly an Oliver Stone plot. The subject matter and how it's handled is totally Stone. But the film, well, it's an Oliver Stone film.

The actors involved, well, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is certainly someone Stone would cast, but the long list of cameos of A and B grade stars comes down to a sprinkle and not a downpour like they used to.

And the look of the film, where are the Stone cuts? It looks like anyone in Hollywood could have directed the script and made it into the movie that it is.

The director doesn't leave his mark Snowden like he had on his earlier work. And, honestly, agree with his politics or not, the reason people go to see his movies is because he's directing them.

Snowden doesn't feel like he really directed it, and you walk away feeling robbed because of it. The movie would have been great with anyone else, but, honestly, we didn't want to see this film made by anyone else, we wanted to see it made by Oliver Stone.