Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike

Films about the effects of 'big government' on our society have been produced throughout the decades, and Ayn Rand's 1957 novel, "Atlas Shrugged" was probably one of the first to delve into that subject matter head on. Last year, her novel was tackled with "Atlas Shrugged I", and now we have "Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike". I believe her novel has to be expanded in several films to explain her idea with any clarity, otherwise, a two hour film alone couldn't cover even half the book, considering it is 800+ pages.

In the not so distant future, the global economy will be on the brink of collapse. Unemployment will top 24%. Gas prices will be up to $42.00 per gallon. Railroads will be the main mode of transportation. All the while this is happening, brilliant creators, from artists to industialists are mysteriously disappearing. Dagney Taggart (Samantha Mathis), COO of Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered an answer to the mounting energy crisis-- a prototype of a motor that draws energy from static electricity. But with all the creative minds one by one slowly vanishing, she either needs to find its creator, or find someone who can fix it from its 'dormant' state. Through Dr. Robert Stadler (Robert Picardo) who claims he doesn't have the knowledge, recommends scientist Quentin Daniels (Diedrich Bader) whom Dagney calls in. Until this motor works, Dagney is fearful that she and her colleagues of supporting businesses including Henry Reardon (Jason Beghe), Francisco d'Anconia (Esai Morales), Ken Danagger (Arye Gross), and even her brother, James Taggart (Patrick Fabian) will have to succumb to the deception of governmental control by the likes of Wesley Mouch (Paul McCrane) and others like him. As everything continues to unfold, someone is watching. Who is this? The main question asked here is, "Who is John Galt"?

Others to round out the cast are Kim Rhodes as Lillian Reardon, Henry's estranged wife, Richard T. Jones as Eddie Willers, Dagney's trusted assistant, D.B. Sweeney as John Galt, John Rubinstein as Dr. Floyd Ferris, Ray Wise as Head of State Thompson, and Bug Hall as Leonard Small.

This was adequately directed by John Putch ("Waiting to Act" '85, "Alone" '86, "Alone in the Woods" '96, "My Ghost Dog" (TV movie) '97, "The Boy Who Saved Christmas" '98, "Valerie Blake" '99, "Intrepid" 2000, "Pursuit of Happiness" '01, "The Poseidon Adventure" (TV movie) '05, "Where There's a Will" (TV movie) '06, "Mojave Phone Booth" '06, "Route 30" '07, "Murder 101: College Can Be Murder" (TV movie) '07, "Route 30, Too!" '12) and a ton of episodic TV. It was written by Duke Sandefur, Brian Patrick O'Toole, and Duncan Scott based on Rand's novel. The writing could have been a bit tighter, but trying to follow someone like Rand has got to be a chore at best, because of the different tangents she has a tendency to go into to get to her final conclusion. No doubt there will be a third installment, because this does leave you hanging. Believe me, telling you this won't destroy the film for you.

Rand gets into the two things which a lot of people choose to not to want to discuss-- politics and religion, or in this case, maybe the lack of it. And considering she wrote this in the 50's, when society as a whole was a bit more conservative, this was avant-garde writing for the day, certainly considered rebellious. This is intriguing, if for no other reason, by the presentation of a certain ideal and Rand was a unique storyteller. If you can get through a bit of stagy directing and some loose writing, this is definitely worth the watch.


Out of 4 stars: 3                      Rated: PG-13                     112mins.