Jeff M
This will most likely join my list of the best films of the 1970s. It's quite amazing how spectacular performances, a brilliant screenplay and taut direction can make basically 2+ hours of telephone calls, doors being slammed and two-fingered typing into such a riveting experience. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, and although I knew the basic outline of the Watergate scandal, I still felt a great deal of tension and suspense here. This is easily the best performance I've seen on film by Redford, and in my mind he owns this movie, although Hoffman is reliably first-rate. I was surprised and delighted to see now recognizable faces show up in small roles - such as Meredith Baxter, Lindsay Crouse, Valerie Curtin and Polly Holliday. There are only three scenes with Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat, but they are among the movie's best. The entire cast is absolutely first-rate. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of this film is making a potentially confusing cornucopia of names and dates and government departments quite easy to follow and understand. Many of the characters discussed quite often never appear onscreen, or perhaps we hear their voices on the other end of telephone conversations, but I was able to follow everything quite well - even though it was past my bedtime. This would be a brilliant double feature with Steven Spielberg's 2017 film THE POST. This is a really fast-paced, entertaining and involving experience - and although I'm not familiar with a newsroom, it feels quite authentic. Can't recommend this one more highly!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/10/24
Full Review
Alec C
The scandal that shocked a nation is shown for the whole world to see! After a heist at the Watergate Hotel is thwarted, two reporters uncover ties that connect from their government all the way to the president Richard Nixon himself. Based on the true scandal that caught American off guard, this thrilling story fills suspense in every scene that comes our way!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/27/24
Full Review
Michael M
In my humble view, one of the best films of all time. Even if the outcome has been known for a long time, The Reporters' Way is incredibly exciting, even after watching it for the fifth or sixth time.
Plus two of my all-time favourite actors, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. In the five favourite films (better ten) for the desert island, this masterpiece would be there. For sure.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/24/23
Full Review
Ben D
With everything that has happened since, it's sometimes difficult to comprehend how profound (dare I say, deep…) an impact the "Watergate Scandal" had on the American political psyche — it's why, to this day, for some reason, we add the "–gate" suffix to every scandal, even though it sounds moronic. Before "Watergate," the public trusted the government and her affiliate institutions, despite the outcry against the Vietnam War and the Kennedy assassination. In short, the shoe leather, dogged reporting of two men (Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman) — at least as the movie will have you believe — changed all of that. All the President's Men is a movie about "how the sausage gets made" without showcasing that final kielbasa. It's deadlines, smoke-filled meetings, turn-around flights, chattering typewriters, scouring phonebooks for numbers and addresses, and, most importantly, clandestine meetings in a dark parking garage with the unfortunately named whistle-blowing informant, "Deep Throat" (Hal Holbrook). What I first noticed — and what was totally unexpected — was the realism of the dialogue here. Despite the Sorkin milieu of swamp-laden, D.C. politics, the characters, especially our leading men, Bob Woodward (Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Hoffman), slip up with their lines, talk over each other, and add plenty of ahs and ums, lacking the punchy, percussive rhythm of what we've come to expect from high falutin' journalistic and political scenes. Like any great journalistic endeavor, the powers that be must always push back, denigrate, and even threaten before finally seeing the light and coming around. It's a classic "pull on the thread" type of story and see what squirrel-cheeked, sweat-soaked head-of-state might come tumbling out at the end. The scandal itself — bugging the hotel of the DNC — feels anodyne now. Moreover, Nixon won the 1972 election in the biggest landslide in electoral history. Paranoia is a bitch. I'd love to get in a time machine and witness the impact this movie may (or may not) have had so soon after the conspiracy had been uprooted — Ford pardoned Nixon only two years before the film was released. All the President's Men is a must-watch for the political or historically inclined but might feel slow with a dearth of action for the contemporary viewer. I couldn't help but salute Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) for sticking by his men despite facing mounting threats from the most vindictive and evil force in the "free" world: The U.S. Government.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
05/18/23
Full Review
Dave S
Director Alan J. Pakula handles matters in All the President's Men the way any good journalist tackles a story – factually, objectively, succinctly. The story is centered around Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), reporters for the Washington Post who help to unveil the biggest scandal in American politics – Watergate. While it may be helpful to have some background on the story before watching the movie (there are a ton of players involved that may be hard to keep track of), it remains a gripping story, even fifty years after the scandal originally broke. Hoffman and Redford are great, the supporting cast is impressive, and William Goldman's screenplay keeps things moving at a nice clip.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/13/23
Full Review
samuel s
I'm not into politics, but this was gripping. I kept watching. The plot, dialogue, and character interactions were all good. The ending is quite haunting, with the cut off of no music. I think it's appropriate considering this is the reality of the situation. There is no flashy finale, just contrast of Nixon being reelected with silence.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
Post a rating
>
