Adventurer/journalist Reed (Warren Beatty) meets attractive artist/activist Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) just prior to the advent of World War I. Soon, she leaves her conservative husband for Reed. She also takes up with bitter playwright Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson). Disillusioned with Wilson's declaration of war against the Germans, the already radical Reed becomes a communist.

Reed travels to Russia, where he chronicles the revolution in his famous work, "Ten Days that Shook the World". After the war, he returns to America, becomes a labor agitator and forms a communist party. Then, it's back to Russia, which is now involved in a civil war against West-supported 'white' armies. Reed suffers from hardships such as imprisonment and declining health, and joins a committee led by fiery Grigory Zinoviev (author Jerzy Kosinski). Bryant makes an unlikely, selfless journey to Russia to join Reed. Maureen Stapleton plays Emma Goldman, another noted American communist. Gene Hackman also shows up in a small role.

Beatty deserves respect for making such a finacially risky and densely political epic. By no means are the Russian communists glorified. Lenin is depicted as a cold-blooded intellectual, while Stapleton's character is used to demonstrate disillusionment with the Bolsheviks' repressive dictatorship. While the politics are on target, the story focuses too much on Keaton, whose character dominates the film's first half. Perhaps this was a marketing necessity to bring women to the theatres, but any romantic chemistry between Keaton and Beatty is quickly trashed by their incessant arguments.

"Reds" won three Oscars, for Best Director, Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro), and Best Supporting Actress (Stapleton). The film was nominated in all the major categories, including Best Actor (Beatty), Best Actress (Keaton), Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson), Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay (Beatty with Trevor Griffiths).