Winner

This is a fairly lighthearted comedy drama, very watchable with great actors. And this would be a nice quirky comedy if it wasn't based on a completely true story. I think that the only thing crazier than her real name being reality winner is the fact that the government hid the proof that Russia had in fact interfered with our election. Of course that would mean that Russia rigged the election so that their cuckmonkey Dump could be president.

And yes, that information is in the movie, it's also on Wikipedia and 1000 news outlets. But people are trained to have short attention spans. As I said this is a fairly lighthearted family movie, until you realize the serious nature and the implications. And while this movie isn't political in nature, even though it is about the government, war, top secret information, and a rigged election, those are just small details in this true story. The real story is this woman's journey. A bright and gifted child who was taught by her parents to fight for those who are less fortunate, and to right wrongs where possible. A family who taught their children that some hills are worth dying on, some battles are more important than others. This is a movie about a whistleblower who tried to tell Americans the truth.

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.

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.

Tho different in style, "Winner" explores the same subject as the recent "Reality": the NSA's Reality Winner who in 2017 leaked classified info on Russia's 2016 US election fixing. "Reality" focussed on her arrest to unveil its story in a clever & dry way, but "Winner" is lighter & brighter in showing her (here played by Emilia Jones - excellent yet again) family background (with folks Zach Galifianakis & Connie Britton and sis Kathryn Newton), motivations, sensitivities, etc. Kerry Howley's debut screenplay weaves a lot of info into a fun & digestible form for fine director Susanna Fogel. "Reality" & "Winner": two terrific complementary movies on one fascinating subject.

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.