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The film reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency to The Guardian in June 2013.
Depending your politics, Snowden's revelations about the US secret electronic surveillance system make him a patriot or a traitor. Stone is so determined to show him as the former, he also makes him a bit of a bore.
Stone's flashy filmmaking, including grand set pieces in enormous secret facilities, can't conceal his flat, thin, psychology-free depiction of a modest and self-sacrificing hero who single-handedly changed the politics of our time.
Joseph Gordon Levitt gives a stolid and precise performance in the lead role , but Stone warms him up by focusing on Snowden's long-term romantic relationship with dancer Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).
Stone explains Snowden with ease: he turned whistleblower because The Man went after the woman he loved. The problem, as in Citizenfour, is that Snowden is telling a story that isn't finished yet.
Stone champions mavericks who challenge the status quo in the name of justice and the ideals of the American experiment and Snowden is his kind of American hero, the moral voice in an amoral world...
Stone collects all of the silliest clichés about computing in a grab-bag aesthetic that tries every kind of pointlessly filtered or grainy look, but can't seem to fake a convincing webcam shot.