Edward Snowden is a name that should ring a bell to you, since the former NSA contractor who leaked information on the U.S. government's massive cyber and telephonic surveillance apparatus back in the halcyon days of 2013 is pretty much the most famous whistleblower in modern history. And now the Hollywood movie about his topsy-turvy life is here.
Snowden is coming to theaters September 16 and is directed by Oliver Stone — the very same Oliver Stone behind Wall Street and JFK (good!) and W and Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (not so good).
The first trailer for the new Snowden movie debuted today on YouTube, and you know what? It doesn't look awful. Sure, Joseph Gordon-Levitt impersonating Snowden's deep and thoughtful tenor is a little weird at first, and there are a few cheesy network TV-style cyber graphics and voyeuristic sex scenes, but if you're cool with a certain hamminess to your entertainment (as I am), it looks fairly enjoyable. And the casting is nice. The Cagemaster himself—Nicolas Cage—is in it. And he's yelling! This should be fun.
On the other hand there's a risk this film will end up feeling as incomplete as W, since it's been made before Snowden's story actually ends. So depending on what happens to him, it's either going to turn out as hopelessly naive... or grossly insensitive.
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