All the President's Men (1976)
Grade: 79
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 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 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.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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