We shouldn’t jump to conclusions and assume this is a shot at Reagan per se. Maybe they’re just using Reagan as a jumping-off point for some of the high-larious hijinks that ensue when old people’s minds deteriorate.

Are we still allowed to be irritated about this, incidentally, now that the GOP’s firmly abandoned Reaganism?

Sources tell Variety Ferrell is attached to star as President Ronald Reagan in the Black List script “Reagan.”

Penned by Mike Rosolio, the story begins at the start of the ex-president’s second term when he falls into dementia and an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

The script was so popular following its announcement on the Black List, an annual catalog of the top unproduced scripts in Hollywood, that a live read was done recently done in March starring Lena Dunham and John Cho.

“There’s no indication of whether this film is a comedy or not,” wrote WaPo late last year when the film was added to the Black List. Well, it was written by a comedian; it was billed a month ago as a “hilarious political satire” in the event with Dunham; now Ferrell, who goofed on George W. Bush endlessly on SNL, is set to star. Anyone still clinging to the “sensitive look at a heartbreaking malady of age” theory? Frankly, if they’re going to milk it for laughs, I hope they’re savage about it. No mercy. The worst would be if they spend 100 minutes having Reagan drooling on himself and then give Ferrell some poignant humanizing Oscar-bait-ish scene in the final 10 about struggling with memories so that critics will walk out pulling their chins about the “surprising empathy” the film showed. But since everything is terrible in America now, that’s probably what we’re in for.

The only comfort is knowing that President Trump will soon solve all of America’s problems, which means we can look forward to equal-opportunity Hollywood satire of liberal politicians’ debilitating illnesses. (We’d all pay to watch a comedy about Ted Kennedy’s alcoholism and let’s not pretend we wouldn’t.) Ah well. Here’s the gold standard for Reagan humor, from Ferrell’s old show. Kindly old gentleman or hyper-competent geopolitical strategist? Both, as it turns out.