Winner

Winner, directed by Susanna Fogel, stars Emilia Jones as the main character Reality Winner, and runs for 103 minutes. At first glance, there's nothing inherently wrong with the film. The acting is solid, especially from Emilia Jones, who delivers a nuanced and compelling performance. The movie's pacing is well-crafted, and it flows smoothly throughout its runtime. The emotions it aims to convey - ranging from personal struggles to moments of warmth - are well-developed, and the connection with the main character is undeniable. You genuinely feel Reality's inner conflicts, her personality, and the intentions driving her actions.

However, despite all these positives, I can't recommend Winner for one simple reason - though it may seem petty to some. In the very first minutes of the movie, we're introduced to the fact that Reality is being arrested, accused of violating the Espionage Act, and is suspected of being a terrorist. It sets up what appears to be a tense and engaging storyline about her legal battle and the fallout of those accusations. Unfortunately, the film never fully capitalizes on that promise. Instead, much of the movie focuses on her personal life - her relationships with her family and boyfriend, her love for animals, and her concern for global suffering.

While these aspects of her character are important, the core issue - the accusations against her - feels like background noise for most of the film. There's very little focus on the actual legal developments or consequences of her actions, which is disappointing given how strongly the film starts by presenting those stakes. The result is a movie that's solid on its own but sets the wrong expectations from the outset. If the focus had been more balanced or if the initial setup hadn't leaned so heavily on the legal drama, it might have been a more cohesive experience.

In conclusion, Winner is a decent film with strong performances and solid pacing, but it ultimately falls short by not delivering on the narrative expectations it sets in its opening moments. I give it a 6 out of 10.

If you have seen the HBO production 'reality' then you may think, why bother to watch this version of the story of Reality Winner? Well this one has a much lighter, even comedic touch to it, they are both very different experiences. Whilst the HBO version may be more realistic in its presentation, 'Winner' is ultimately the more affecting of the two in my opinion. It could stand on its own as a film about a rebellious teen, and would be enjoyably involving, moving and thought provoking. However accurate it comes to portraying the facts and experiences of the situation, one thing is certain, it gets across the message regarding the state of the political, judicial and intelligence sectors of the USA. Which all, depending on your biases, are truly lacking. Maybe not so much as in even the majority of other countries, but certainly far from that aspirational 'Shining City on a Hill' mantra.

It's deeply ironic that a young ex forces woman was jailed for years for printing out a few pages, when the person who was the beneficiary of the Russian interference she wished to highlight, had boxes full of top secret documents he had stolen as a private citizen in his toilet, yet will likely never even see the inside of a prison cell?

This is a highly entertaining film, watch it.

Even though I follow the news, I don't remember this case. I also did not watch the previous movie about her (HBO?)

At first I was concerned about the quality (based on the negative reviews here), but after reading more online about her and her case, we decided to give it a watch. Both the husband and I thought it was well written, well acted, and well paced.

Regardless of which side of the political divide you are on, we need more people who are willing to stand up for the truth AND transparency in government. In that respect I applaud her efforts.

Also, I have to say that I loved the carnudgeonly charming 'character' that her father was.

Hard to review this film without somehow getting on someone's nerves. I liked the acting and the movie was OK in terms of pacing and production. However it was difficult for me to reconcile the real case, the bias that the filmmakers were pushing for and the entertainment part of the film. Imagine if Ed Snowden was a blonde woman with absolutely no people skills, spy skills or revealing anything truly interesting. You get to know her, then the movie is over. That's about it.

Now, there is nothing wrong with her being a woman, being blonde or caring about politicians lying through their teeth on TV about Russian interference in American voting, it's just that it was not something entertaining. The makers of this film struggled its entire length to make the characters relatable and interesting, and they did a good job with what they had, but it still wasn't really interesting. Emilia Jones did great work, too, but couldn't make a bland film something else than what it was.

If you thought the film was about some legal battle against the government or some shrewd individual outsmarting the security apparatus of the United States or about real drama and human suffering, you get none of that. Instead you get an average person, trying to do the right thing in a terribly naive way and paying for it. I got to feel more about that poor guy who liked her than about all of the people killed by the military, the main character, her family or anyone else in the film.

Bottom line: the film made me aware of the existence of this case, but it wasn't anything special in real life and the film couldn't elevate it to something else entirely, no matter how hard they tried.

It's very humourous, and tells a very human story of an activist and person with a strong moral compass. If there were more people like her. We'd have fewer wars and stop hemmoraging money we need to fix this country and help the impoverished. Instead of funding needless conflicts and army bases all over the world. Instead of punishing whistleblowers we condemn and imprison them for speaking out against against secretive government policies that overall make us all less safe and less free. People live in their own echo chambers and have refused to read books or listen to other points of view from those who live in other countries, especially the ones we devastate with our bombs, just because we want their oil or they refuse to obey us.