Finally got around to seeing Atlas Shrugged: Part One, the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s opus
Let me start out by saying: Yes, I am, generally, an Ayn Rand fan – not extreme mind you, I don’t get into the details of her life or that of her circle of acolytes. I don’t go to the Objectivist conventions (if there are such things, like Trek conventions). However, I do accept much of her philosophy, adding it to my own, odd, personal beliefs (All things in moderation, not excepting moderation). That being said, I liked Atlas Shrugged: the novel, in spite of Rand’s droning prose style and her habit of making the climactic scene of her major fiction be a (long) speech from the protagonist. I also liked The Fountainhead
I went into the movie thinking I was not going to enjoy this. Its rare that I like movie adaptations of novels I enjoy (exception being the Harry Potter films). I was more than pleasantly surprised by the fact that I liked the movie perhaps more than the novel!
Sure, the production values aren’t the absolute highest. It was a relatively low-budget film and yet surprisingly well done. The actors are more than competent, given that they often had to parrot Rand’s (somewhat) wooden dialogue and did what they could to bring their characters to life. Taylor Schilling, playing Dagny Taggert, turns in a very good performance, as does Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden. And, of course, any film that has Armin Shimerman (seen too little, alas, as Dr. Potter) is made better by his presence. Schilling and Bowler, unfortunately, don’t have enough chemistry to make Dagny and Rearden’s love affair (launched in the second half of the film) seem realistic. In fact, it seems to jump almost out of nowhere unless you were already expecting it from the novel. Sadly, that lack plays through almost all of it except in the one actual love scene you get (and it is very tastefully done, BTW, no nudity). In the scene, Dagny looks up at Hank with an almost worshipful look that plays true to character if you realize (spoilers for those who haven’t read the book) that Dagny must be attracted to the man of the most ability she sees. While in this film its Rearden, it changes to the (heard from but not really seen) John Galt in later parts (there are supposed to be 3, total).
This brings me to one of the poorer choices on the part of the directors/producers in this film. In the first part of the novel, I think you get only one brief glimpse of Galt. It isn’t until the second part that we actually meet Galt by name. In the novel, Galt has been quietly visiting the best producers in the country and convincing them to go “on strike” against the looters and unproductive. We don’t see most of this interaction, finding out only by reference to the “disappearances” of those producers, until Ellis Wyatt, a Colorado oilman, all but blows up his oil fields and abandons his business leaving the note “I’m leaving it as I found it. Good luck.” This ends Part One and the film.
I would have also liked to see more of the interplay of the “bad guys” in the film: James Taggert, Wesley Mouch (well portrayed by Michael Lerner), and others. The novel gives more of the discussions of the “1%” of that society – those with the political power and little intellect – which would show even more strikingly the parallels between that world and our own.
In conclusion, Atlas Shrugged: Part One
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as I’m not quite sure how to react to Feast. Think I’ll head back to Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera sword and sorcery series to rinse the odd (not bad, mind you, just odd) taste from my mouth.
