Movie News: Reagan's Daughter Isn't Too Happy About Upcoming Will Ferrell Movie About Her Dad & now its DONE

[playahaitian]

Ronald Reagan's Daughter Isn't Too Happy About That Upcoming Will Ferrell Movie About Her Dad

Boy, that escalated quickly. It was announced yesterday that Will Ferrell will beplaying former United States presidentRonald Reagan in the Mike Rosolio-penned comedy Reagan, which, according toVariety, was also one of the most popular films on the Black List — an annual catalogue of Hollywood's top unproduced scripts. Following a second-term Reagan as he slides into dementia, the film tells the story of an intern tasked with convincing Reagan that he's an actor playing a president in a movie, as opposed to the nation's actual Commander in Chef. However, not everyone's laughing at the narrative. In a letter published today in the Daily Beast directed at "Mr. Ferrell,"Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, expounded on how her father's Alzheimer’s shouldn't be a source of comedic inspiration.

"Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia," she writes. "I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted — past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar…and mercifully, finally past the fear."

She continues:

Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have—I didn’t find anything comedic there, and my hope would be that if you’re a decent human being, you wouldn’t either...I look into haunted eyes that remind me of my own when my father was ill. I listen to stories of helplessness and loss and am continually moved by the bravery of those who wake up every morning not knowing who their loved one will be that day, or what will be lost. The only certainty with Alzheimer’s is that more will be lost and the disease will always win in the end. Perhaps you would like to explain to them how this disease is suitable material for a comedy.

Reagan's son, Michael Reagan, took to Twitter on Wednesday to also vent his frustrations:

 

[DaAssWatcher]

Fuck Regan's bitch ass.

 

[crackheadlou]

On the real making fun of Alzheimer should never be a joke, I've lost two relatives l to this disease and it's very sad to see them "forget" their lives right before your very eyes. As it was explained to my family by the doctor it's not that they forget where their keys are....they forget what "keys" are for, that's why Alzheimer victim's often times regress to their former selves or do things they long stop doing like go to work at the local school as a teacher that they retired from 40 years ago. As explained by the doctor they often die because at it's worst stage "they literally forget how to breath"...shit ain't no joke I got to side with Mrs Davis on this on. Fuck all naysayers.

 

[dtownsfinest]

On the real making fun of Alzheimer should never be a joke, I've lost two relatives l to this disease and it's very sad to see them "forget" their lives right before your very eyes. As it was explained to my family by the doctor it's not that they forget where their keys are....they forget what "keys" are for, that's why Alzheimer victim's often times regress to their former selves or do things they long stop doing like go to work at the local school as a teacher that they retired from 40 years ago. As explained by the doctor they often die because at it's worst stage "they literally forget how to breath"...shit ain't no joke I got to side with Mrs Davis on this on. Fuck all naysayers.

I agree with your post. I've seen it.....it broke my heart to see my grandmother like that.

That being said, I take this shit as a comedy about Reagan then I do them making a joke out of dementia.

 

[phanatic]

If someone can't joke about something because if affects you, you can never laugh at any comedy ever again because every joke is at someone's expense. Old School made fun of frats and excessive drinking, but hazing and alcohol poisoning has killed college students...should they have not made that movie because some parent lost their child to alcohol overdose?

 

[durham]

Fuck her dad, for all the evil he did in Grenada, Guatemala, South Central LA, Arkansas, the middle East...FUCK HIM and her emotions . He had no fucking business being president that second term, when he could barely utter his own first name. Egotistical to make this about one fucking evil man.

 

[Ceenote]

Him n her

 

[godofwine]

Fuck Ronald Reagan, and fuck Will Ferrell too. After that Bewitched bullshit I refuse to watch any movie that mother fucker makes ever...I was mad I paid a dollar

 

[playahaitian]

A Brief Look at Will Ferrell’s Brief Involvement With a Ronald Reagan Dementia Movie

Earlier this week, Variety reported that Will Ferrell would play Ronald Reagan in a movie called Reagan, which he would also produce through his company, Gary Sanchez Productions. Last year, the screenplay for Reagan made the Black List, a collection of unproduced scripts most popular with film executives, and its log line is as follows, emphasis mine: "When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander-in-chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

That dementia, a big part of the reason why the script made the Black List, is now also the reason why Ferrell will not be playing Reagan — and why this movie might never get made. After the news came out, the Reagan family rushed to condemn the project, with son Michael Reagan tweeting, "#Alzheimers is not a comedy to the 5 million people who are suffering with the decease,it first robs you of your mind and then it kills you." Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, published an open letter at the Daily Beast further criticizing Ferrell, and the Alzheimer's Association came down equally hard: “Would filmmakers consider using a fatal form of cancer or another deadly disease for comedy? It’s time to stop this forever.”

Sure enough, by Friday, Ferrell was out, with his reps telling "Page Six" that Ferrell had only been considering the script, and had never actually been attached to star, and, by the way, it's not an Alzheimer's comedy, so chill.


That's a lot of drama for a film that hasn't even been financed yet, but this is the rare issue where both sides' positions are perfectly understandable. Let's start with Ferrell's. Critics would have you believe that the former George W. Bush impersonator was gleefully searching for newer and more vicious ways to pierce the Republican elite, and in doing so landed on a screenplay that skewers an old man's descent into a crippling, tragic disease. But in fact, the Reagan script is about as safe a bet as one can make in non-superhero Hollywood, having already landed on the Black List, which has been the launching pad for some very good (and very bad) movies. And reading Reagan on the page, which I have, the defense that it isn't an "Alzheimer's comedy" rings somewhat true: The Reagan that Ferrell would've played is charismatic, funny, and vivacious; he just happens to think he's a much younger version of himself, still acting rather than, you know, being president:

FRANK
Ron, we’re doing this scene in ... (Remembering the lingo) ... Cinema Verite. Hidden cameras, like we’re not even filming at all. Just you and your scene partner.
REAGAN
Great. Who’s my scene partner?
Frank sees MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (53, he’s Gorbachev), General Secretary of the USSR. Frank pauses, then:
FRANK
Its ... Ernest Borginine.
Poindexter makes a ‘what the hell?’ face. Reagan beams.
REAGAN
Ernest Borginine! McHale’s Navy! Airwolf! Talented man.

Meanwhile, as far as portrayals of Republican presidents go, this is a fairly kind one. Oliver Stone's W. made Bush the Younger look like an eighth-grader who had stumbled into the White House out of sheer vindictiveness and pique, and of the many savage portrayals of Richard Nixon, Philip Baker Hall's in Robert Altman's tremendous Secret Honor — made when Nixon was still alive — renders Tricky Dick as a petty, pitiable lunatic.

On the other hand: Alzheimer's isn't funny, at all, and it's hard to blame Reagan's children about reeling at the idea that their father would be played for comedy while in the throes of it, regardless of whether that was in fact what the script was doing. It would've likely taken a strong and enthusiastic defender to push the project's more debatable aspects beyond the controversy, and even then it probably never would've escaped a certain level of scrutiny for that conceit; clearly, however, Ferrell and his team decided very early on that it wasn't at all worth the trouble that would've involved, and they bailed as soon as they had the chance.

Now that it's been dragged through the media mud, it seems unlikely, though not impossible, that Mike Rosolio's screenplay will ever get made. Supporters will have to be satisfied with last month's table read in Los Angeles, starring Lena Dunham and Josh Brolin, and their own ideas about what could have been.

 

[kinglickk]

If someone can't joke about something because if affects you, you can never laugh at any comedy ever again because every joke is at someone's expense. Old School made fun of frats and excessive drinking, but hazing and alcohol poisoning has killed college students...should they have not made that movie because some parent lost their child to alcohol overdose?

You sir are so fucking right with this statement.
I've had several older folks go down. Yeah it was sad but it's fucking reality. (And I did have a chuckle or two during the ordeals. I preferred that to crying over something I couldn't change) They damn well knew Reagan was fucked up but just let the charade go on. Fuck Regan and his daughter.

 

[Capo]

First. Fuck Reagan. My grandmother suffered from alzheimers and while the disease itself is not funny, I can and do make jokes about it. She used to lunch out and while sad, the shit was also funny.

 

[Damn Right]

fuk Reagan.

that is all

 

[BigFish999]

Fuck Reagan! (yet may he rest in Peace)
The existence of this movie also exposes the BS in the current Republican party as they are all trying to forget the Bush years and praise what they consider the greatest president of our time the great Ronald Reagan! Yeah they all knw that man was out of his fucking mind during that last 4 years and they hid the truth to spread their fucked up agenda! Then along came Clinton to get the economy back to a surplus. Hypocrites all of them!

 

[Lexx Diamond]

Post her picture.

 

[phanatic]

You sir are so fucking right with this statement.
I've had several older folks go down. Yeah it was sad but it's fucking reality. (And I did have a chuckle or two during the ordeals. I preferred that to crying over something I couldn't change) They damn well knew Reagan was fucked up but just let the charade go on. Fuck Regan and his daughter.

I kept my grandfather loaded on weed brownies during his stage four cancer days. "I don't want a bunch of sad crying niggas around me" is an exact quote. You have to make the best of whatever time you have left. At my funeral, I want New Orleans styled partying. I don't want any crying, just people getting drunk and talking about the time I pissed in the server room at Lincoln Financial field.

 

[ViCiouS]

On the real making fun of Alzheimer should never be a joke, I've lost two relatives l to this disease and it's very sad to see them "forget" their lives right before your very eyes. As it was explained to my family by the doctor it's not that they forget where their keys are....they forget what "keys" are for, that's why Alzheimer victim's often times regress to their former selves or do things they long stop doing like go to work at the local school as a teacher that they retired from 40 years ago. As explained by the doctor they often die because at it's worst stage "they literally forget how to breath"...shit ain't no joke I got to side with Mrs Davis on this on. Fuck all naysayers.

fuck your sensitive opinion

the joke isn't about the disease- the joke is the fact that a man diagnosed with Alzheimers and was who clearly no longer competent for the job was protected by sycophants and got propped up despite the LAW or our rights as citizens, just to keep their jobs and his reputation intact

anyone thats been around someone suffering from dimentia or Alzheimers knows that bullshit was criminal...
most Americans have no idea how many acts of treason were committed by his administration / "people" without his knowledge... before he was elected all the way until he left office
And Fuck Nancy Reagan for her part in allowing and helping them - motherfuckers turned the President into a hand puppet for almost 8 years

 

[Lexx Diamond]

Here's the salty cunt. Not a fucking word of remorse for the drugs distributed heavily by her dad via his administration.

 

[ViCiouS]

A Brief Look at Will Ferrell’s Brief Involvement With a Ronald Reagan Dementia Movie

Earlier this week, Variety reported that Will Ferrell would play Ronald Reagan in a movie called Reagan, which he would also produce through his company, Gary Sanchez Productions. Last year, the screenplay for Reagan made the Black List, a collection of unproduced scripts most popular with film executives, and its log line is as follows, emphasis mine: "When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander-in-chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

That dementia, a big part of the reason why the script made the Black List, is now also the reason why Ferrell will not be playing Reagan — and why this movie might never get made. After the news came out, the Reagan family rushed to condemn the project, with son Michael Reagan tweeting, "#Alzheimers is not a comedy to the 5 million people who are suffering with the decease,it first robs you of your mind and then it kills you." Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, published an open letter at the Daily Beast further criticizing Ferrell, and the Alzheimer's Association came down equally hard: “Would filmmakers consider using a fatal form of cancer or another deadly disease for comedy? It’s time to stop this forever.”

Sure enough, by Friday, Ferrell was out, with his reps telling "Page Six" that Ferrell had only been considering the script, and had never actually been attached to star, and, by the way, it's not an Alzheimer's comedy, so chill.


That's a lot of drama for a film that hasn't even been financed yet, but this is the rare issue where both sides' positions are perfectly understandable. Let's start with Ferrell's. Critics would have you believe that the former George W. Bush impersonator was gleefully searching for newer and more vicious ways to pierce the Republican elite, and in doing so landed on a screenplay that skewers an old man's descent into a crippling, tragic disease. But in fact, the Reagan script is about as safe a bet as one can make in non-superhero Hollywood, having already landed on the Black List, which has been the launching pad for some very good (and very bad) movies. And reading Reagan on the page, which I have, the defense that it isn't an "Alzheimer's comedy" rings somewhat true: The Reagan that Ferrell would've played is charismatic, funny, and vivacious; he just happens to think he's a much younger version of himself, still acting rather than, you know, being president:

FRANK
Ron, we’re doing this scene in ... (Remembering the lingo) ... Cinema Verite. Hidden cameras, like we’re not even filming at all. Just you and your scene partner.
REAGAN
Great. Who’s my scene partner?
Frank sees MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (53, he’s Gorbachev), General Secretary of the USSR. Frank pauses, then:
FRANK
Its ... Ernest Borginine.
Poindexter makes a ‘what the hell?’ face. Reagan beams.
REAGAN
Ernest Borginine! McHale’s Navy! Airwolf! Talented man.

Meanwhile, as far as portrayals of Republican presidents go, this is a fairly kind one. Oliver Stone's W. made Bush the Younger look like an eighth-grader who had stumbled into the White House out of sheer vindictiveness and pique, and of the many savage portrayals of Richard Nixon, Philip Baker Hall's in Robert Altman's tremendous Secret Honor — made when Nixon was still alive — renders Tricky Dick as a petty, pitiable lunatic.

On the other hand: Alzheimer's isn't funny, at all, and it's hard to blame Reagan's children about reeling at the idea that their father would be played for comedy while in the throes of it, regardless of whether that was in fact what the script was doing. It would've likely taken a strong and enthusiastic defender to push the project's more debatable aspects beyond the controversy, and even then it probably never would've escaped a certain level of scrutiny for that conceit; clearly, however, Ferrell and his team decided very early on that it wasn't at all worth the trouble that would've involved, and they bailed as soon as they had the chance.

Now that it's been dragged through the media mud, it seems unlikely, though not impossible, that Mike Rosolio's screenplay will ever get made. Supporters will have to be satisfied with last month's table read in Los Angeles, starring Lena Dunham and Josh Brolin, and their own ideas about what could have been.

fucking hypocrites

 

[crackheadlou]

I kept my grandfather loaded on weed brownies during his stage four cancer days. "I don't want a bunch of sad crying niggas around me" is an exact quote. You have to make the best of whatever time you have left. At my funeral, I want New Orleans styled partying. I don't want any crying, just people getting drunk and talking about the time I pissed in the server room at Lincoln Financial field.

Yes, YES!!!!... and when you forget how to feed yourself, try with all your might (and damn near succeed) to kill that intruder in your bed you woke up to (your wife) and spend hours in your undies walking into bushes and shrub on the streets of Virginia in 30 degree weather determined to get back home to Memphis yes let us ALL revel in your exploits!!!...dumbass that's the point!! it does work like that "make the best of whatever time you have left" sheeesh! this isn't cancer where you have your wits and knocking out weed brownie and that bucket list while ya still got time....YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT A BUCKET IS! WHAT TIME IS, WHO YOU ARE!!...get it? Family and friends? yeah they will remember you for what you USE to be which makes It all the harder the way you ended up, clueless as how to literally wipe the shit from your own ass, nah son ain't no New Orleans style partying going on that day. Nuff said.

 

[DWBass]

Last I read, Will ain't doin' the movie.

 

[Mr. Met]

She hated her parents and now she's using this to get shine.

Fuck Reagan and his bum ass kids.

 

[playahaitian]

Last I read, Will ain't doin' the movie.

yup that is the update I posted.

 

[big enos burrnet]

yeah will fits the role...cause for one reagan was a comical mother fucker anyways...

 

[cdholder]

Fuck her

 

[EPDC]

Surprised no one posted her 1980s Playboy spread yet

 

[ORIGINAL NATION]

When Reagan became president I was in the military. All I was doing was trying to get some money. But with the star wars, space station, etc. those racists have been doing some very evil planning. It is very strange about some things but I will not mention them. Reagan loved Botha for his great efforts in killing the blacks in South Africa and being rewarded with the wealth of their land for doing it. Reagan even put military bases on alert to be sent there to make sure no other country take South Africa from him. Congress shut that down. But now they are back in the driver's seat. They have a part of the pentagon that is underground. And it is so top secret that Congress does not even know what is going on their.

 

[Mrfreddygoodbud]

well tell reagans daughter we wasnt to happy about him allowing crack into "black" neighborhoods to fund the contras..

but we had to endure it, so she should to...


regan thougtht it was cute to say he cant recall crack being sent to "black" neighborhoods by the cia..

but years later karma came to hs ass.. and he really couldnt remember shit...

and folks think there is no such thing as karma..

mayne they gonna be in for a rude awakening....

 

[KRAYZIE]

Fuck her dad, for all the evil he did in Grenada, Guatemala, South Central LA, Arkansas, the middle East...FUCK HIM and her emotions . He had no fucking business being president that second term, when he could barely utter his own first name. Egotistical to make this about one fucking evil man.

wow dude what is the evil he did in Grenada ? Sorry to tell you this but he actually help save Grenada.

 

[playahaitian]

Surprised no one posted her 1980s Playboy spread yet

much like her Dad we forgot...

damn sorry for that one been on bgol too long tonight!

 

[theteacher]

much like her Dad we forgot...

damn sorry for that one been on bgol too long tonight!

LOL
Funny how when people mention scandals, this is my first time ever seeing or hearing about this. This was in 1994, they must have kept this on the hush-hush.

 

[The Plutonian]

SO Ol hoe, we wasn't happy about Reaganomics that set us back by 100 years either. lil Bitch, fuck YOUUUUUUU

 

[JamesATL]

she did porn?

 

[ViCiouS]

wow dude what is the evil he did in Grenada ? Sorry to tell you this but he actually help save Grenada.

 

[Nzinga]

much like her Dad we forgot...

damn sorry for that one been on bgol too long tonight!

Oh my God... I know the back story to this. So it was the
end of the work day, and he was tired. When God tried
to finish this man, he discovered that he had run out of
dicks, and so since he did not want to work even one
more hour to make one dick, he reached between the
legs and scooped out an amount of matter, divided it in
to two small parts, pasted them to the chest, and called
them breasts; the hole where the matter came from,
he called a vagina. The total resulting mess he left to
Ronald Reagan to name Patti Davis.

 

[KRAYZIE]

Shake your head cause you don't know. I'm from Grenada and after the fuckery that Coard pulled people were and still are more than happy that the U.S. steped in. You can't always look at everything with militant glasses dude.