Jon Voight, Mena Suvari and Penelope Ann Miller also star in the biopic directed by Sean McNamara (‘Soul Surfer’), which hits all the major events of the former president’s life and career.

Twenty years ago, Ronald Reagan became the subject of The Reagans. Starring James Brolin and a superb Judy Davis, the very controversial TV movie elicited scornful reactions from Reagan acolytes and barely made it to the airwaves. But no one should have similar reactions to the reverential Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as the former president. No one, that is, except people looking for a sharp, lively piece of cinematic entertainment.

Perhaps the strangest choice is to have the story told by a former KGB officer (Jon Voight) who gives Reagan (whom he calls “the Crusader”) credit — or blame — for the downfall of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s and early 1990s. No mention is made of the return to KGB values under the reign of Vladimir Putin, perhaps because that would complicate the story and displease the nostalgic moviegoers presumed to be the primary audience for this glossy tribute to Reagan.

Although the movie runs a hefty 140 minutes, it often seems rushed as it checks off the highlights (and some lowlights, including Reagan’s gig as a minor Vegas performer in the 1950s): California governor for eight years, defeat at the 1976 Republican convention where he challenged Gerald Ford, then his resurgence in 1980 and his landslide victory in 1984. Some of the controversies of his time in the Oval Office, notably the Iran-Contra scandal, are mentioned but sped over in about two or three minutes. We also see AIDS activists in one brief snippet, but there is no commentary on Reagan’s long silence during the AIDS crisis of the ’80s. And there is no mention of the role that Reagan played, both as California governor and as president, in shutting mental hospitals, which certainly contributed to the growing homelessness crisis.

The highlight of the film, and perhaps of Reagan’s life, was his 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” It was indeed a rousing moment, but one might question whether that alone caused Communism to topple. Mikhail Gorbachev himself, portrayed sympathetically by Oleg Krupa, probably played a role here.

Quaid has been given puffy, rouged cheeks to match the familiar image of Reagan, and while his performance is competent, he never matches the charm that he conveyed in The Right Stuff or Great Balls of Fire. Miller takes a very different approach from the one that Davis took in The Reagans, where she portrayed Nancy as Lady Macbeth in high heels. Nevertheless, Miller makes an appealing presence and does convince us of Nancy’s lifelong devotion to her Ronnie. Other members of the very large cast don’t have enough to do to make much of an impression. It is nice to see Lesley-Anne Down as Margaret Thatcher, some 45 years after her starring roles back in the 1970s.