I went into this film as a blank slate - someone completely unfamiliar with Ayn Rand and her philosophy. I am aware that there are a number of people who cite her novel Atlas Shrugged as a life-changing blue print for living and society and others who dismiss it as complete bilge with incredibly destructive properties.
I cannot attest to how faithful this film remains to the source novel, but I can attest to the fact that it is an utterly deadening, mind-numbing and thoroughly unenjoyable viewing experience. If I understand the gist of the Rand philosophy embodied in Atlas Shrugged, it seems to be that personal self-aggrandizement, selfishness and greed are the most important aspects of society and should be encouraged, while the average working man is so much forgettable dross to be dismissed and trod over. I believe Michael Douglas encapsulated this in a memorable speech back in 1987s Wall Street. It only took him a moment to convey it, whereas it takes Atlas Shrugged the entire film (plus a projected two more) to convey the exact same message. If I am incorrect about the Rand philosophy, then blame the film as those I went with came away with the same impression. I find it deeply disturbing that anyone finds this lunacy a blue print for society.
The story is pretty much a bunch of nonsense about uncompromising glacial blond Dagny Taggart teaming with Hank Reardon to build a new high speed rail system in the US against the obstacles placed there by the villainous government regulations. Anyone who disagrees with Dagny and Hank are depicted as either weaklings, villains or preferably both.
The story is purportedly set in the near future, but it is utterly laughable because it seems to exist in a hermetic bubble that has no relation to the world we actually live in. The fact that so much of the story depends on the success of high speed rail transit is ironic considering that conservatives, libertarians and Randians alike are currently trying to throw assorted obstacles into the path of such a plan currently being developed. The lunacy the film spouts about regulation and Big Government is pure hilarity considering that regulation has become progressively extinct in the US since the 1980s and it has proved to be to the detriment of the country not to its success. The film fails to mention anything about such modern conveniences as the internet and mentions nothing about the progress of other industrialized nations. Whereas we are currently looking at a corrupt government weakened by corporate brown-nosers answering to the highest business bidder, Atlas Shrugged seems to present such a thing as a utopia.
The film looks suspiciously like a made for TV movie, but made on the cheap. The cast is a wash-out with an array of unknowns and barely familiar faces trying to invest some degree of passion or emotion into the proceedings to little success. Taylor Schilling is hopelessly out of her element in the central role and she is ill-supported by the remainder of the cast. Director Paul Johansson casts himself as the elusive John Galt, an enigmatic mystery man behind the disappearance of the supposed cream of the crop in business, but this plot thread is so uncompelling as to be rendered comatose.
Laughably, despite the reported nadir of the country in the film, everyone we meet is wealthy, well-to-do, dressed to the nines and impressed with themselves to the nth degree. The "action" is basically a series of business meetings set in different random places. If you think your average staff meeting is provocative and sexy, then this is definitely the film for you. Imagine an episode of Dallas or Dynasty with lower production values, an absence of the campy characters that make the shows a guilty pleasure, and completely set in boardrooms/meeting areas and you have Atlas Shrugged down pat. Considering one must imagine the producers had some degree of passion to bring this to the screen, it is woefully absent on screen. The film lumbers to an exhilarating crescendo wherein we see people ride a train...quickly. This realization of this dream is so much for Dagny and the married Hank that they must consummate their romantic ardor in a scene with all of the erotic splendor of a memorandum. The complete ennui which dogs this film leaves the viewer soporific by the time it grinds to a halt.
Based on this initial effort, one can only wish that the world will not be victimized by Parts 2 and 3. As drama, it fails miserably. As a propaganda piece, it is more stillborn than the least interesting story from Pravda. As a life-changing film, one can only pity those who feel there is something of depth or worth here. Over the weekend I decided to give Rand another chance and caught The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. The story was more nonsense which is purportedly about an uncompromising architect, but seems much more interested in jackhammers plunging into the earth while Patricia Neal lasciviously looks on posing provocatively in her impressive foundation garments next to the sky. It was foolish, but you know what? At least the overt sexuality was fun and Neal was amazing looking, both ingredients missing from this rotten mess.
I cannot attest to how faithful this film remains to the source novel, but I can attest to the fact that it is an utterly deadening, mind-numbing and thoroughly unenjoyable viewing experience. If I understand the gist of the Rand philosophy embodied in Atlas Shrugged, it seems to be that personal self-aggrandizement, selfishness and greed are the most important aspects of society and should be encouraged, while the average working man is so much forgettable dross to be dismissed and trod over. I believe Michael Douglas encapsulated this in a memorable speech back in 1987s Wall Street. It only took him a moment to convey it, whereas it takes Atlas Shrugged the entire film (plus a projected two more) to convey the exact same message. If I am incorrect about the Rand philosophy, then blame the film as those I went with came away with the same impression. I find it deeply disturbing that anyone finds this lunacy a blue print for society.
The story is pretty much a bunch of nonsense about uncompromising glacial blond Dagny Taggart teaming with Hank Reardon to build a new high speed rail system in the US against the obstacles placed there by the villainous government regulations. Anyone who disagrees with Dagny and Hank are depicted as either weaklings, villains or preferably both.
The story is purportedly set in the near future, but it is utterly laughable because it seems to exist in a hermetic bubble that has no relation to the world we actually live in. The fact that so much of the story depends on the success of high speed rail transit is ironic considering that conservatives, libertarians and Randians alike are currently trying to throw assorted obstacles into the path of such a plan currently being developed. The lunacy the film spouts about regulation and Big Government is pure hilarity considering that regulation has become progressively extinct in the US since the 1980s and it has proved to be to the detriment of the country not to its success. The film fails to mention anything about such modern conveniences as the internet and mentions nothing about the progress of other industrialized nations. Whereas we are currently looking at a corrupt government weakened by corporate brown-nosers answering to the highest business bidder, Atlas Shrugged seems to present such a thing as a utopia.
The film looks suspiciously like a made for TV movie, but made on the cheap. The cast is a wash-out with an array of unknowns and barely familiar faces trying to invest some degree of passion or emotion into the proceedings to little success. Taylor Schilling is hopelessly out of her element in the central role and she is ill-supported by the remainder of the cast. Director Paul Johansson casts himself as the elusive John Galt, an enigmatic mystery man behind the disappearance of the supposed cream of the crop in business, but this plot thread is so uncompelling as to be rendered comatose.
Laughably, despite the reported nadir of the country in the film, everyone we meet is wealthy, well-to-do, dressed to the nines and impressed with themselves to the nth degree. The "action" is basically a series of business meetings set in different random places. If you think your average staff meeting is provocative and sexy, then this is definitely the film for you. Imagine an episode of Dallas or Dynasty with lower production values, an absence of the campy characters that make the shows a guilty pleasure, and completely set in boardrooms/meeting areas and you have Atlas Shrugged down pat. Considering one must imagine the producers had some degree of passion to bring this to the screen, it is woefully absent on screen. The film lumbers to an exhilarating crescendo wherein we see people ride a train...quickly. This realization of this dream is so much for Dagny and the married Hank that they must consummate their romantic ardor in a scene with all of the erotic splendor of a memorandum. The complete ennui which dogs this film leaves the viewer soporific by the time it grinds to a halt.
Based on this initial effort, one can only wish that the world will not be victimized by Parts 2 and 3. As drama, it fails miserably. As a propaganda piece, it is more stillborn than the least interesting story from Pravda. As a life-changing film, one can only pity those who feel there is something of depth or worth here. Over the weekend I decided to give Rand another chance and caught The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. The story was more nonsense which is purportedly about an uncompromising architect, but seems much more interested in jackhammers plunging into the earth while Patricia Neal lasciviously looks on posing provocatively in her impressive foundation garments next to the sky. It was foolish, but you know what? At least the overt sexuality was fun and Neal was amazing looking, both ingredients missing from this rotten mess.