''Killing Reagan'' is a 2016 American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Rod Lurie Rod Lurie ( he, רוד לוריא; born May 15, 1962) is an Israeli-American director, screenwriter, and former film critic. Early life and career The son of internationally syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie, he was born in Israel but moved to ...

and written by

Eric Simonson Eric Simonson (born June 27, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American writer and director in theatre, film and opera. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the author of plays '' Lombardi'', ''Fake'', ''Honest'', '' Magic/B ...

. It is based on the 2015 book of the same name by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. The film stars

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated '' Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 19 ...

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

, Joe Chrest,

Joel Murray Joel Murray (born April 17, 1963) is an American comedy actor. He is well known for his roles in the television series ''Mad Men'', ''Grand'', '' Love & War'', '' Dharma & Greg'', '' Still Standing'', and '' Shameless''. He has also appeared in ...

, Kyle S. More, and Michael H. Cole. The film premiered on October 16, 2016, on the National Geographic Channel.

Plot

The film opens at a

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

re-election campaign rally in Nashville, Tennessee.

William Casey William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agen ...

is serving as Reagan's campaign manager in 1980. Reagan's would-be assassin,

John Hinckley John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a .22 caliber revolver, Hinck ...

, is seen purchasing a Röhm gun. On October 28, 1980, Reagan and Carter

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

in Cleveland, Ohio. Later, Hinckley hears about the

assassination of John Lennon On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer was Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan who ...

and develops a fascination with

Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of his apartment building at The Dakota, Chapman shot Lennon from a ...

. After Ronald Reagan recovers from the assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan hires the astrologer

Joan Quigley Joan Ceciel Quigley (April 10, 1927 – October 21, 2014), of San Francisco, California was an astrologer best known for her astrological advice to the Reagan White House in the 1980s. Quigley was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She was called ...

Cast

as Ronald Reagan *

as Nancy Reagan *Jeff Harlan as

Michael Deaver Michael Keith Deaver (April 11, 1938 – August 18, 2007) was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985. Early ...

*Joe Chrest as

Jerry Parr Jerry S. Parr (September 16, 1930 – October 9, 2015) was a United States Secret Service special agent who is best known for defending President Ronald Reagan during the attempt on the president's life on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C. Pa ...

Edwin Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan pre ...

*Kyle S. More as

John Hinckley Jr. John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a .22 caliber revolver, Hinck ...

*Michael H. Cole as James Brady *

Geoff Pierson Geoff Pierson is an American actor known for his starring television roles on '' Dexter'', ''Unhappily Ever After'', '' Grace Under Fire'', '' 24'', '' Ryan's Hope'', and '' Designated Survivor''. He has guest-starred in dozens of other TV shows. ...

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...

* Patrick St. Esprit as

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these ...

*Ashley LeConte Campbell as Jim Baker's Secretary *

Gary Weeks Gary Weeks (born June 4, 1972) is an American film and television actor; he is also a film producer and screenwriter. Biography Gary Weeks was born in Wiesbaden, Hessen, Federal Republic of Germany in a U.S. airbase. He was raised in Georgia, ...

as Stephen Colo *

Mike Pniewski Michael Pniewski (born April 20, 1961) is an American actor and public speaker. Life and career Pniewski was born in Los Angeles, California. His education began at UCLA, where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater and al ...

as Jack Hinckley *Leander Suleiman as Dr. Joyce Mitchell *Rebecca Tilney as Jo Ann Hinckley *Kristen Shaw as Cheryl Chris * James Martin Kelly as

Donald Regan Donald Thomas Regan (December 21, 1918 – June 10, 2003) was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1981 to 1985 and the White House Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 under Ronald Reagan. In the Reagan administration, he advocat ...

*Daniel Thomas May as

David Stockman David Alan Stockman (born November 10, 1946) is an American politician and former businessman who was a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan (1977–1981) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1981–1985 ...

*Jason Vail as Dennis McCarthy *

Kendrick Cross Kendrick Cross (born May 1, 1971) is an American actor. Early life Cross was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in South Carolina. Career He began acting on stage, before appearing on television, in episodes of ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Army W ...

as Danny Spriggs *Katia Lara as

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hono ...

*Bill Winkler as

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American statesman and businessman. As a prominent Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, including chairman of the Californ ...

*Dustin Lewis as Ted Graber *Jeff Rose as George Opfer *Anthony Collins as Dr. F Fagan *Amber Erwin as Katie *Keith Hudson as Rocky *John L. Smith Jr. as

*David Alexander as George Chmiel * Brian F. Durkin as Detective Eddie Myers *Jim Dougherty as Judge William Higgins *Kathrine Barnes as Kat * Tom Hillmann as Dr. Joseph Giordano *Joseph Lacy as Ray Shaddick *Chris Hlozek as Robert Wanko *David A. MacDonald as

Tim McCarthy Timothy J. McCarthy (born June 20, 1949) is an American former policeman and special agent in the United States Secret Service. McCarthy is best known for defending President Ronald Reagan during the assassination attempt on Reagan's life on M ...

*Sue Cremin as Nurse Wendy Koenig *Annie Humphrey as

Sarah Brady Sarah Jane Brady (née Kemp; February 6, 1942 – April 3, 2015) was a prominent advocate for gun control in the United States. Her husband, James Brady, was press secretary to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and was left permanently disabled a ...

*Trey McGriff as David C. Fischer *Darian Fisher as Kent Wood

Production

On September 22, 2015, the National Geographic Channel and

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...

acquired rights to the book ''

Killing Reagan ''Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency'' is a book written by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard about the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981. It is the fifth in the ''Killing'' series, fol ...

''. On May 6, 2016,

and

joined the cast to play Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.

Reception

''Killing Reagan'' has a 63% rating on the

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

review aggregator. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' said the film was the best of the "Killing" adaptations to date, but said the film "doesn’t exactly know where to begin and runs out of energy in the aftermath of Reagan’s recovery from a killing that didn’t occur." A review in ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine said that Mathieson "captures the essence of the Reagan persona" but that "Cynthia Nixon’s Nancy is rather pointedly lacking in depth."

Accolades

''Killing Reagan'' received three

Critics' Choice Television Award The Critics' Choice Television Awards are accolades that are presented annually by the Critics Choice Association (CCA). They were established in 2011, and the first ceremony was held on June 20, 2011, and streamed live on VH1.com. The fourt ...

nominations for its seventh annual awards.

References

External links

* {{National Geographic films 2016 television films 2016 films 2016 drama films 2010s English-language films American biographical drama films Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan Biographical films about Ronald Reagan Biographical television films American drama television films Films about elections Films based on works by Bill O'Reilly (political commentator) Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Rod Lurie Films scored by David Buckley Films set in 1980 Films set in 1981 Films set in California Films set in Colorado Films set in Tennessee Films set in Virginia Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in the White House National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Television films based on books 2010s American films