The film stars Dennis Quaid as President Ronald Reagan, alongside Penelope Ann Miller, Jon Voight, Kevin Dillon, David Henrie, and Mena Suvari.

In present-day Moscow, Russian politician Andrei Novikov arrives at the home of former KGB agent Viktor Petrovich, and questions why the Soviet Union fell.

Petrovich, who was assigned to surveil U.S. politician Ronald Reagan, discusses the Soviet Union's past ambitions to infiltrate Washington, D.C. and Hollywood.

Reagan's marriage to actress Jane Wyman ends in divorce due to his political involvement and the premature death of their daughter Christine.

In 1969, Governor Reagan clashes with student radicals at the University of California, Berkeley, and has the state National Guard sent in to quell the protests.

At the Geneva Summit in 1985, the two leaders negotiate nuclear disarmament, but Reagan is reluctant to sign an agreement due to his support for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which had been dubbed "Star Wars".

[31] Screenwriter Jonas McCord had initially been uninterested in the project, but changed his mind after deciding that Reagan's childhood and formative years were dramatically rich.

[31] Klausner and McCord wrote the script based on a book by Paul Kengor: The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.

[33] In 2012, Jon Voight was in discussions to portray Viktor Petrovich, whom Kengor said "is actually a character based on a number of KGB agents and Soviet analysts who we now know were tasked with keeping tabs on Ronald Reagan for many years".

[34] In August 2016, it was reported Sean McNamara, who had, at 18, worked as a sound engineer on the filming of Reagan's inauguration ceremony in 1981, had signed on to direct.

[3][4] In the United States and Canada, Reagan was released alongside AfrAId, Slingshot, 1992, and City of Dreams, and was projected to gross $5–7 million from 2,754 theaters in its four-day opening weekend.

"[51] Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Kyle Smith said, "Mannered acting, dismal cinematography, clunky attempts to enhance excitement via gimmicks such as slow motion, and a musical score like a fountain of goo all serve as flashbacks to Reagan-era network schlock.

"[52] Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote, "Regardless of how you feel about Ronald Reagan the president, most will be united in finding this biopic a preachy, plodding, graceless groaner.

"[53] The Washington Post's Ty Burr gave the film 1.5/4 stars, writing, "The faithful for whom Reagan was made aren't likely to see that it's a hagiography as rosy and shallow as anything in a Kremlin May Day parade.

"[56] In December 2024, Owen Gleiberman of Variety placed the film in his "Top Worst Movies of 2024" list at #3, writing "it’s like watching an infomercial for an aw-shucks cult leader.