BrianKoller's Full Review: All the President's Men
If you were a newspaper reporter, what would consider to be the top story of all time? Close to the top would have to be the Watergate scandal, a massive tangle of abuse of power that goes all the way to the President himself, and through most of his top aides.
Reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) have this dream assignment. At first it is just a burglary at National Democratic Headquarters, but the reporters learn that Nixon Administration officials are behind it. They uncover an enormous cash slush fund, and trace payments to top officials such as Attorney General John Mitchell.
They say that invention is 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration. The same seems to be true for
reporters. Redford and Hoffman chase endless
leads that go nowhere, and find little
co-operation from Administration workers, even
low-level ones. There seems to be an organized
campaign to stonewall. The reporters eventually
learn that they have been under surveillance
themselves, and even that their lives may be in
danger.
Redford has the easier role as the persistent but
compassionate Woodward. His character is
relentlessly normal, however. Hoffman gives a
fine performance as Bernstein, portrayed as an
intense, quirky chain-smoker. While Hoffman has
first billing, he has less screen time than
Redford.
One of Woodward's sources is Deep Throat, a
knowledgeable and secretive Administration
official who talks in riddles and will only meet
with Woodward in a desolate parking garage. The
film does not reveal who Deep Throat is, but he
sure sounds like Hal Holbrook.
Jason Robards plays Ben Bradlee, editor of the
Washington Post. He generally supports his
reporters, but keeps them in line when their
stories lack facts and sources. He can lose his
cool when the reporters mess up a story, at one
point shouting "Woodstein!" at them over the din
of the busy office.
"All the President's Men" focuses on the
reporters and not the scandal itself. Top
Administration officials are never seen, and only
heard over the telephone when being questioned.
While not quite the outstanding movie that it is
reputed to be, it is a very good film that
captures the excitement of a great newspaper
story and the hard work that went behind it.
(79/100)
In the Watergate Building, lights go on and four burglars are caught in the act. That night triggered revelations that drove a U.S. President from off...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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