All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976): USA
Reviewed by Byron Potau. Viewed on DVD.
With another Nixon/Watergate film, Frost/Nixon, being released to DVD this week, it might not be a bad idea to revisit Alan J. Pakula’s classic film, All the President’s Men, based on reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s account of their investigation into the Watergate burglary.
The film, released a mere two years after President Nixon’s resignation, follows the two Washington Post reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) from the time of the burglary. They scribble down notes, scrounge for information, push their way into people’s offices and homes, and question people who don’t want to answer any questions. Woodward’s deep background source, referred to as Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), meets him secretly at night in an empty parking garage and keeps the investigation headed in the right direction. They piece their information together, one name leading to another until they finally link the burglary to the White House.
Pakula’s film, based on what is probably the most famous investigative journalism in history, is amazingly suspenseful and thrilling, especially considering we already know the ending. He dwells on the small details, names that lead to other names, and keeps up the tension in the scene as the reporters work to confirm their story from people who won’t talk to them. We feel the danger, lurking and unseen for the reporters and the people they question. We also see the bustle of the news room, and never feel that our reporters are overreacting to anything, but that their enthusiasm is real. A real strength of the film is its stellar acting from top to bottom. On the newsroom side of the cast, Redford and Hoffman are excellent in their roles as are Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, and Jason Robards Jr. in his Oscar winning performance as Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. Actors Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat, and Supporting Actress nominee Jane Alexander as a bookkeeper reluctant to answer any questions are also excellent. Credit must also go to William Goldman for his Oscar winning screenplay, and Robert L. Wolfe’s splendid Oscar nominated film editing. This film is a real joy to watch as everyone involved seems to be at the top of their game.
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