VIDEO--Atlas Shrugged, Part 1

I finally got around to watching the movie of Atlas Shrugged. I dragged my feet on it because people were damning it as a low budget movie. I was expecting to see some amateurish flick with bad special effects. I shouldn't have listened to those critics because they outdid themselves on this one.

This movie does not have name brand talent like Angelina Jolie or Tom Cruise. Otherwise, it is a fine adaptation of Rand's novel. I never once had a cringe moment watching this movie. Instead, I couldn't help but notice how much it reflected what is going on today in America. Michael Bay may have done the movie differently with a huge budget and eye popping special effects. But it would have really sucked. Money does not make a great film.

Is this a great film? Not exactly. The problem is that it is clearly part of a larger epic work. It feels incomplete because you only have the first part of the story. You get to the end of this crushed by the fact that the bad guys are clearly winning. You still have two more parts to go. Since I have read the book, I know what to expect.

The story is like this. The good guys are the people in the world who are capitalist and produce and earn. The bad guys are the socialists and the parasites who devour everything and loot and justify it all in the name of "equality" and "fairness." The good guys put up a good fight, but some of them decide it isn't worth it anymore. They go on "strike" leaving the world and the parasites to destroy themselves. The leader of this strike is a man named John Galt. We won't meet him until Part 3.

Part 1 focuses on Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart. Dagny runs a railroad while Hank produces a new alloy called Rearden Metal that will revolutionize Dagny's business. The socialists can't allow this. Dagny and Hank fight and win. Then, they lose as oil man Ellis Wyatt throws in the towel and goes on strike with Galt's people. The strikers simply disappear from the scene.

The most galling scene is where a character hits up Rearden for a donation to his progressive cause but asks that the donation be wired, so that they won't be embarrassed to have Rearden's name on a check. That is the epitome of what Atlas Shrugged is about. The capitalists are the ones that provide the wealth while at the same time demonized for providing it.

When I first read Ayn Rand's novel, it made a profound impression on me. I'm not as extreme in my viewpoints as she was, but I do share here absolute antipathy for the looters and the parasites. As I pointed out on Facebook once, Rand's heroes are unreal, but her villains are absolutely true. In the case of the leech Wesley Mouch, you need look no further than Paul Krugman. The character and the man are virtually identical.

I liked this movie, but I must admit that I want to see the whole epic completed. This first part is a good beginning, but it isn't complete. The movie ends with you wanting to know one thing. Who is John Galt?

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