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I first watched this movie not long after it was released in 1976. What could be more compelling than watching it again, on the eve of the 6th, one of those dates that will now be one for remembrance and reflection? A presidency that had no respect for law or, even more importantly, common human decency. That drug that is more powerful and corrupting than meth: power. “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference,” was one of his famous quotes, self-pitying, after he lost the gubernatorial race in California in 1962. He would go on to hold many more, as we know, staging a stunning political come-back. As a classic “Nixon-hater,” I’d be tossed from any potential jury… yet, in the delicious ironies of history, my ability to write this review might be solely attributed to Richard Milhous Nixon. Sure, he was not thinking of me, encased in his own motives. Weaving its way through the military bureaucracy, his decision to “Vietnamize” the war in Vietnam (a bizarre concept, even that) led to my official “withdrawal” from the war. Instead of completing the standard tour (for the Army) in Vietnam of 365 days, I only spent 357 days. Eight glorious, perhaps life-giving days. Tricky Dick, bless ’im.
From the personal to the national, the irony again, for the press did indeed, decisively, have Nixon to kick around again. Two young and hungry reporters, Carl Bernstein, played by Dustin Hoffman, and Bob Woodward, played by Robert Redford, go against the grain, even of their own newspaper, having a nose for one of the biggest stories of the 20th century, which confirm Lord Acton’s axiom about power corrupting. Jason Robards plays an excellent Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Washington Post. Tough, he is, with his “cub reporters,” but eventually he is willing to chance Katherine Graham's bosom in that old-fashioned ringer washer, one of the many threats that Bradlee received at the time, for performing his duty to himself and the American people. (She was the owner of the WP at the time.) “Run it” he would finally proclaim.
The director, Alan J. Pakula, produced a tense, fast-moving, high-charged drama that seemed to reflect journalistic standards and customs at the time: the typewriter, the crammed desks in the open office floor plan, the hustle for the scoop and meeting the deadline. And this was one of the scoops that really happened.
The fear. That is what struck me hard, yet again. The fear that we stress is more normally associated with totalitarianism: Stalin, Hitler, et al. It was SO difficult for Bernstein and Woodward to get someone to talk. Period. And for the record, virtually never. The game played by the informant, “Deep Throat,” that finally and dramatically Woodward called his hand on it. There was the fear of loss of the money for the mortgage, damage to the career… and more dramatically, the loss of life: “your lives are in danger.”
Why, oh why? If all those political operatives and their dirty-tricks gamesmanship had not appealed to Nixon’s own underhanded ways of thinking and winning elections, including the red baiting of Helen Douglas, his Democratic opponent for the Senate in 1950, he almost certainly would have won the 1972 election with “peace at hand,” He won, but ultimately lost because of the dirty tricks.
What was not in the movie, but I remember distinctly having lived through the period, was the stationing of Alexander Haig (by whom?) in the White House to prevent “unauthorized orders” being transmitted to the 82nd Airborne Division. Hum. And who determines that the Commander-in-Chief gives an unauthorized order, and how heavy are the fingerprints on the order.
The events of January 06, a year ago, confirm the truths in the cliché about history not repeating but rhyming. And since time immemorial, the loyalty (or not) of “security,” has disturbed many a leader’s sleep. An essential viewing for all who fret about the democratic process. 5-stars, plus.
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October 5, 2010 "Please retry" | New Packaging | 1 | $4.39 | $3.17 |
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February 21, 2006 "Please retry" | Special Edition | 2 | $19.12 | $3.00 |
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Reviews with images
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
Great movie the first time I watched it, great movie every time I watch it! HOWEVER, in my opinion, the Watergate incident and Woodward and Berstein's pursuit of the truth (perfectly justifiable in this case) unleashed the media's salivary glands to dig into any incident - no matter how trivial - in pursuit of a Pulitzer Prize.
Top reviews from other countries
Richard J. Williams
A great film about some of the most crucial events in recent American history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2016mel neily
Tense political drama of the early 70's.
Reviewed in Canada on September 17, 2020