Movie Review: Quaid looks (and sounds) the part, but ‘Reagan’ is more glowing commercial than biopic

“Is there anything worse than an actor with a cause?” asks an annoyed Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan’s first wife, early in “Reagan,” the new biopic starring Dennis Quaid.

Well, after watching two more hours of this story, an adoring look back at the man who served two terms as our 40th president, we can report that there is definitely one thing worse: An actor without a movie.

Let’s not blame the star, though. Quaid, who has played more than one president, has certainly got the charismatic grin, the pomaded hair and especially that distinctive, folksy voice down — close your eyes, and it sounds VERY familiar. If he were to appear on “Saturday Night Live” in the role, it would feel like a casting coup akin to Larry David as Bernie Sanders.

But this is not an “SNL” skit, despite the fact that Jon Voight appears throughout with a heavy Russian accent as a KGB spy, but we’ll get to that. This is a 135-minute film that demands a lot more depth. And, so, to co-opt a political phrase from Bill Clinton, whom Quaid also has played: It’s the script, stupid.

Lovingly directed by Sean McNamara with a screenplay by Howard Klausner, “Reagan” begins with a chilling event (and a parallel to a recent one): the assassination attempt on Reagan in Washington in March 1981, only two months after he became president.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> A look at the history of presidential assassination attempts in America </bsp-custom-headline> </bsp-list-loadmore>

There are those who say Reagan cemented his