Third time must be the charm for Dennis Quaid when it comes to portraying American presidents, after playing Bill Clinton (“The Special Relationship”) and a satirical take on George W. Bush in “American Dreamz,” he now portrays the titular Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan” stars Dennis Quaid as the 40th President of the United States, and follows his early life and careers as an actor in the 1930s through his two terms in office in the 80s. Penelope Ann Miller portrays his wife Nancy, while Robert Davi, Lesley-Anne Down, and Jon Voight appear in supporting roles. Sean McNamara, who worked on the video production team of Reagan’s 1981 inauguration, directs.

Dennis Quaid is one of those actors that I feel gets overlooked for his talents because of his off-camera persona, but he has given some great performances in his career (he’s truly great in, and was arguably snubbed for an Oscar for, “Far from Heaven”). As Ronald Reagan, Quaid only somewhat physically resembles the former President, but he does a good job getting his little smirks and mannerisms down. At times Quaid can feel like he’s giving an SNL performance but I never found it to feel like a parody, and the quieter moments he shares with Penelope Ann Miller’s Nancy Reagan are sweet.

Like many modern biopics the film is a little Wikipedia-esque, checking off obligatory boxes in Reagan’s life over the course of a (somewhat indulgent) 135 minutes. Still, I think all things considered the film moves at a well enough pace and never really lulls. I also appreciated it for not hiding from the failings of the Reagan administration (though certain things like the AIDS crisis and CIA drug running only get the montage treatment), or hint at his impending Alzheimer’s diagnosis (though they’re often blink-and-you-miss it).

The film carries a $25 million production budget, and you can see that small total sometimes reflected on-screen with basic sets and uninspired lighting. Not saying every biopic needs to be immersive like “Lincoln” or “The Aviator,” but there are times the film comes off like those reenactment cutscenes you find in Netflix docudrama. I’m sure things like this will stand out to me more than the average filmgoer, but feel it’s worth including.

I also want to quickly add, there is a brief montage that focuses on the rapid deaths of Russian leaders that is so out of tone with the rest of the film but is honestly a very good comedic bit.

“Reagan” will make fans of the titular politician happy, reliving moments of American exceptionalism and finally giving the oft-cited better Presidents his time on the silver screen (well, since he himself appeared in 1964’s “The Killers”). My dad really enjoyed it and thought it captured specific moments well, and even though I wasn’t alive at the time the photos shown in the credits seem to back that up. So if “Reagan” sounds like a film you’d like, it’ll probably earn your vote.

Critics Rating: 6/10