Warren Beatty’s magnum opus is the sort of sweeping epic that Hollywood doesn’t even attempt to make anymore, as it masterfully maneuvers between personal love story and large-scale historical saga. …(Beatty) delivers an impassioned performance as John Reed, the early-20th-century journalist and activist. Covering the final years of his short life (he died at 32), the film centers on his relationship with writer Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) and his eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution, detailed in his book Ten Days That Shook the World.Yet Reds is a movie so rich in purpose and incident that it packs additional issues into its 195-minute running time: the period’s feminist movement, the discussions and dalliances of leftist intellectuals, the constant turmoil involving various political factions, and the disillusionment of those who had embraced Communism only to watch its principles get corrupted by the machinations of zealots. Despite a number of note-perfect turns (Annie Hall, for starters), this remains my favorite Diane Keaton performance: Her Louise Bryant is intelligent, opinionated, sexy, strong, and courageous. Jack Nicholson, meanwhile, contributes beautifully understated work as a brooding Eugene O’Neill — it’s arguably the most restrained performance he’s ever given. The Academy initially got it right by nominating this for 12 Oscars (including nods in all four acting categories), then blew it by only handing it three for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton as feminist Emma Goldman), and Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro); it absurdly lost Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay to underdog Chariots of Fire (a fine film, but no Reds). -The Film Frenzy

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