Snowden

JGL plays a pretty convincing Snowden or at least I think he does as I've only seen the real Snowden in video and Citizenfour. I don't know exactly how correct the movie is to the actual story but as most of these things go, the movie will have been created with a slightly exaggerated storyline and version of events. An enjoyable watch and a big tick for me was that the coding and terminology used in the movie were relatively correct and true to real life!

Although the movie is not perfect, it's flaws are limited, minute and easily ignored. **A must-watch for anyone using a computer!** This adaptation of Snowden's transformation from a talented programmer working for the United States secret service into a planetary hero really takes the viewer deeper into the true story on which this film is based. It shows the human side of the path towards revealing the truth. Relational tensions, covertly supportive colleagues and the need to stay cool are all part of this film. Best spy thriller I've ever seen. _Beyond believable_.

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.

**It's a forgettable film, with nothing remarkable about it other than the fact that it makes an open defense of Edward Snowden and what he did.** Oliver Stone has given us a film that could not be more controversial: a biography of Edward Snowden, an ex-military and former US spy who worked as an intelligence analyst for the CIA and the NSA. It's not worth getting into the script, almost everyone knows who Snowden is and what he did. What varies a lot is how each person faces it. To many Americans, he is a traitor who has endangered world security and the fight against terrorism. For others, he denounced the way the US controls the world and uses information (and the way people practically abdicate their private life through social networks) in order to gain advantages in the field of macroeconomics and geostrategy. Acting as a panegyric, the film is militant, takes sides and defends Snowden and his view of things, portraying him as someone of courage, a man of integrity who served his country and the fight against terrorism, but who found that he was part of the problem rather than the solution, and that he was serving much darker interests than he realized. Seeing the film is the same thing as listening to Snowden himself, who has been exiled in Moscow for several years (to what extent did Putin not take the opportunity to recruit him, or use everything he knew?). So it's a film that will upset those who see Snowden as a traitor to their country, and even some people who would prefer a more neutral approach, better able to show both sides of the problem, as I would have preferred. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a good job as the protagonist. While we're not sure if he managed to be faithful to the real Edward Snowden, the actor creates someone who is easy to like: one of those computer and math geniuses who observe people and the rest of the world with a mixture of curiosity and naivety. On the one hand, I feel inclined to sympathize with the character... on the other hand, the naive way in which he acts seems forced and hard to believe, particularly after what the character experiences in Japan. Shailene Woodley also does a good job by giving life to Snowden's girlfriend (now wife), an outgoing and communicative girl. The film features the collaboration of Melissa Leo, Tom Wilkinson, Zachary Quinto, Rhys Ifans and Nicolas Cage. Technically, it has the characteristics of an ordinary mainstream American film. There are good sets and the cinematography has some well-done moments, in addition to some notes of good CGI. However, it's a relatively forgettable film, with nothing to make it stand out other than the fact that it's about Snowden.