Patman

For a mid-section of a trilogy, it didn't feel like it covered a lot of ground, though propped up enough plot points for the 3rd part, so not really satisfying on its own, perhaps it'll play better as part of the whole. The underlying message of removing incentive from one's work efforts to better one's station in life only to serve the government's interests is hammered home repeatedly. Samantha Mathis takes over the role of Dagny Taggart (originally played by Taylor Schilling), and seems a little more age-appropriate for the role, but it's just weird seeing her at this age considering I guess my main recollection of her is from "The Thing Called Love" almost 30 years ago.

I give it 2 stars or a grade of C.

Cellar Door

You're off by a decade--that was released in 1993.

Supermallet

This made enough money to warrant part two being made? Or is the financier just that willing to throw good money after bad?

Jules Winfield

Weren't the financiers gung ho from the beginning to get the whole thing made? I don't know. In fact, you can say I "shrug" my shoulders at anything relating to these movies.

dhmac

Some wealthy individuals who believe in Ayn Rand's preachings put up the millions of dollars to complete this, even though the first one was a massive box office flop. (Ironic, given that the market clearly decided against making more "Atlas Shrugged" movies so this puts the sequel financiers, from a Randian viewpoint, in the position of being like a government agenda continuing to support a failed venture.)

PatD

If they decide to make part III, how the frig are they going to do it? Will they have the whole John Galt speech? To my knowledge, it takes 3 hours to recite aloud. Will they re-cast it again? And how can you make a movie that's mainly about someone brow-beating the world over the radio?

Cellar Door

Troy Stiffler

Don't anyone see this movie. It needs to pull itself up by it's own bootstraps.

Norm de Plume

I shrugged, part 2.

yoshimi

Rand is my all time favorite hypocrite. There should be scene after the credits showing an old cancer ridden Rand cashing her social security checks that she collected at the end of her life.

milo bloom

/thread

no, that's not enough


/internet

lamphorn

This is such a travesty. Loved the novel, and I will grant that was a LONG time ago that I read it and I don't know how I'd respond to it now. What saddens me is that this property was on its way to what could've been a decent movie. At one time, it had Angelina Jolie attached as the lead, with Brad Pitt producing and possibly co-starring. They had what was reportedly a great script and an experienced director on board.

Then Angelina got busy and the debutantes who were holding the rights realized that their option would run out before she became available for it and decided to jump the gun rather than re-option the rights or let it be bid on by actual movie producers. So, the damn financier dude wrote the disaster of a script that was "Part 1" himself in about a week and cast and shot the whole thing in about two weeks. The results are obvious. I was able to painfully get through about a half-hour of the first one before I had to give up. It's truly awful. I don't expect much better of this one.. another cheap, tossed-together, movie-of-the-week. If they actually like Ayn Rand, they'd have the decency to sell the rights to professionals to do it right. It could've been so much more.

milo bloom

It's hard to picture Jolie and Pitt being attached to this story since they both seem to be pretty far left in their politics.

RichC2

I dunno, a script is a script, some actors don't mind the "deeper meaning", or notice it.

This seemed like an ideal project for Eastwood / Jolie.

lamphorn

Their attachment was widely reported about 5 or 6 years ago. I even remember reading an interview with the screenwriter of the Atlas Shrugged script Jolie was attached to in "Script" magazine. That script was a one-movie adaptation and was NOT used in the crapfest that got made. People in Hollywood were saying very good things about it. Apparently, they're big Ayn Rand fans, particularly Jolie. Despite current public perception, Rand was really a radical libertarian who was on most issues far more socially liberal than most liberals, not a conservative.