Atlas Shrugged Movie Review

Review – Fantastic!  Go see it and read the book!  5 out of 5 stars!

Tonight I saw "Atlas Shrugged Part 1" at the Riverside Theater in downtown Reno.  It was a fantastic movie and stayed very true to the book which I finished reading about a month ago.  The movie takes place in the United States during 2016 and stars Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden.  The movie is based on the best-selling book by Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged."  According to the Ayn Rand Institute over 7.5 million books have been sold since 2009.  Not too shabby for a book written in 1957.

My mother read "Atlas Shrugged" in 2009 while we were on a family vacation.  All throughout the vacation she would tell me “you need to read this book” but then she would follow up with “but not right now because it will depress you.”  I produce a political television show so I am involved in politics and I follow the political scene on a local and national level which often frustrates me.  She knew the book would upset me because so much of the book is similar to what is happening in our country politically right now. 



Book Cover



In the fall of 2010 I finally started reading the book.  It was about 1,200 pages and took me several months.  I had to stop reading the book numerous times because it made me mad and I started to stress out because it is so much like what we face right now in our country that I would start to wonder if we are heading towards total collapse like in the book.  I also started having thoughts that maybe I should become a “striker” because I am tired of supporting the “looters” that abuse the system.  I finally finished the book a month ago just in time to see the movie released today April 15, 2011.

The movie was almost sold out tonight, which is funny because we had to demand via email that it be shown in Reno.  Originally they had no intention of opening the movie at any of our theaters.  I think there were maybe 5 or 6 open seats in the whole theater at the 6:55pm showing.  My mom and I went to dinner and then got to the theater an hour early so we could visit and make sure we had good seats.  We were glad we got there early since the place was packed.  It was a unique crowd, everyone was very nice and polite and it felt like we were watching the movie with a highly educated group because they got the jokes that not everyone would get unless they were well educated.  A gentleman and his wife and friends came and sat next to us, it turned out he  was one of our state Senators.  I didn’t recognize him until he said his name because it was so dark in the theater.  I also saw a coworker and one of the co-hosts from the show I produce.   You’ve got to love Nevada because it is such a small state that you often run into people you know and it is common to run into legislators randomly.

I highly recommend "Atlas Shrugged Part 1."  The movie was very well written and stayed surprisingly true to the book, which I imagine was a real challenge since it is such a complex, detailed and lengthy book.  There were of course things missing and some of the developments in the book were left out but they did a great job making the movie.  I thought the cast was perfect for the characters, especially Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart, they were just like I pictured them while reading the book.  I pictured Francisco d’Anconia having a thicker accent but the actor still did a great job.  The scenes of the launch of the John Galt Line and the fire at Ellis Wyatt’s Oil Field were well captured.



Movie Poster



I read today that they only spent $10 million making the movie which was surprising because it looked just like some of the big budget films I have seen.  They saved a lot of money by casting people that were not big A-list stars which was also a benefit because the star power wasn’t a distraction from the message of the movie.  This was a very high quality film that was made with a small budget.   

The movie is the first out of a 3 part series.  The second part comes out on April 15, 2012 and then the third part on April 15, 2013.  I can’t wait to see the next part of the movie and I highly recommend the book and the movie because they are both very thought provoking.