An epic biopic of US president Richard Nixon, which deals primarily with the conspiracy surrounding the bungled break-in of the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel leading ultimately to his resignation, but also with his childhood in California, his campaign battles, and US foreign policy in the late sixties and early seventies.
This is a big film on a big subject with some big flaws and admits in a disclaimer at the start to taking dramatic license, but despite that it has much to recommend it. For a start, it crams as much detail as it can into three hours, with a brilliant cast and a sweeping John Williams score. It deals with almost all the most important aspects of American political life of the era, the vast majority of which are still as relevant as ever, especially given the current right-wing US administration. It portrays Nixon sympathetically and devotes as much screen time to his achievements as it does to his famous fall from grace. It offers a realistic portrayal of a professional politician and credits the viewer with the intelligence to judge his career for themself. In my opinion, it does have some faults though, first and foremost being Hopkins as Nixon. Whilst his performance is dedicated and rings true emotionally, I have difficulty getting past the casting of a short Welshman as an iconic tall American. Similarly, Hoskins is a bravura but bizarre choice for J. Edgar Hoover. These are counterpointed though by many smooth and assured performances from the large ensemble cast; most notably Allen, Boothe, Woods and Sorvino (who is entirely credible as the larger-than-life Henry Kissinger). The movie has some surprising takes on specific individuals, which slightly colours its objectivity. Nixon's counsel John Dean is portrayed as fairly saintly, and also happened to be a technical consultant on the picture. Gordon Liddy, the head guy on the break-in and a pivotal figure in both the cover-up and the various investigations of Nixon's use of campaign funds, has about three seconds of screen time. Some characters (such as the oil baron played by Hagman) are entirely fictitious, which is never a good idea in a biopic - stick to the facts. The crackerjack editing, whilst sometimes brilliantly mixing the cast into newsreel footage from twenty-five years earlier, occasionally lurches into pretension and dissipates the drama. Nixon's constant comparing of himself to his martyred rival John F. Kennedy is probably more an obsession of Stone's than it was of Nixon's. These are personal quibbles however and don't alter the fact that this is a tremendous production of what is fundamentally an amazing true-life story. Nixon was vilified by many people during his lifetime, perhaps justifiably, but often in ignorance of his circumstances and of the machinery of global politics. This movie is an intriguing window into his world, which at the very least shows what motivated him to do what he did. See for yourself.
This is a big film on a big subject with some big flaws and admits in a disclaimer at the start to taking dramatic license, but despite that it has much to recommend it. For a start, it crams as much detail as it can into three hours, with a brilliant cast and a sweeping John Williams score. It deals with almost all the most important aspects of American political life of the era, the vast majority of which are still as relevant as ever, especially given the current right-wing US administration. It portrays Nixon sympathetically and devotes as much screen time to his achievements as it does to his famous fall from grace. It offers a realistic portrayal of a professional politician and credits the viewer with the intelligence to judge his career for themself. In my opinion, it does have some faults though, first and foremost being Hopkins as Nixon. Whilst his performance is dedicated and rings true emotionally, I have difficulty getting past the casting of a short Welshman as an iconic tall American. Similarly, Hoskins is a bravura but bizarre choice for J. Edgar Hoover. These are counterpointed though by many smooth and assured performances from the large ensemble cast; most notably Allen, Boothe, Woods and Sorvino (who is entirely credible as the larger-than-life Henry Kissinger). The movie has some surprising takes on specific individuals, which slightly colours its objectivity. Nixon's counsel John Dean is portrayed as fairly saintly, and also happened to be a technical consultant on the picture. Gordon Liddy, the head guy on the break-in and a pivotal figure in both the cover-up and the various investigations of Nixon's use of campaign funds, has about three seconds of screen time. Some characters (such as the oil baron played by Hagman) are entirely fictitious, which is never a good idea in a biopic - stick to the facts. The crackerjack editing, whilst sometimes brilliantly mixing the cast into newsreel footage from twenty-five years earlier, occasionally lurches into pretension and dissipates the drama. Nixon's constant comparing of himself to his martyred rival John F. Kennedy is probably more an obsession of Stone's than it was of Nixon's. These are personal quibbles however and don't alter the fact that this is a tremendous production of what is fundamentally an amazing true-life story. Nixon was vilified by many people during his lifetime, perhaps justifiably, but often in ignorance of his circumstances and of the machinery of global politics. This movie is an intriguing window into his world, which at the very least shows what motivated him to do what he did. See for yourself.