Review of All the President's Men (77)

Plot
Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, cover what seems to be a minor story about a break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters inside of the Watergate Hotel.  They follow their leads, sources and instincts as the investigation goes higher and higher in the Republican Party, and eventually into the White House itself.  The stories they wrote and the facts they brought to light were very instrumental in the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Jason's Thoughts
I liked All the President's Men because it wasn't simply telling the story but it was telling their story.  While seeing the Watergate scandal unfold from all angles may have made a compelling movie, seeing the story through the eyes of the reporters following the case made for an interesting take on this historic part of American politics. 

A good portion of the movie is spent watching the reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, talking on the phone or going over notes and other unglamorous aspects of journalism.  The cut and dry approach is all worthwhile, though, as the seemingly small local story goes beyond what anyone could have first imagined and led to the first and only resignation of an American President.

My only gripe with the movie is the abrupt ending.  A short compilation of news footage, or anything else for that matter, would have been better than what was offered.  Sure, a majority of the people who will watch this movie knows full well how it all ends, but the ending of All the President's Men didn't seem to have the type of impact as their investigative reporting did on the whole Watergate scandal.

Crystal's Thoughts
I really need to learn to write these reviews shortly after watching the movie instead of weeks later...  For the most part, I really had no idea what All the President's Men was about, and I judged a book by its cover so to speak and thought it would be about President's Men.  OK, so it was, just the ones hidden in the shadows doing Nixon's dirty work.  So for me, the movie was a lot different that what I had set myself up for.  Yet, it turned out ok as many of you know my love for writing and the film being about getting to the truth through journalism.

I felt the movie was an intriguing point of view about Watergate.  You really need to pay attention throughout though to grasp everything going on through Bernstein's consistent need to smoke.  I don't think there was a scene in which that man wasn't smoking, which constantly reminded a viewer of which time period they were in.  I can't imagine working in that office, and it actually made me thankful that people can't smoke just anywhere anymore.  I do wonder how many packs of cigarettes they went through in the making of the movie.

One last point I need to touch on that made this movie stand out to me was the lack of profanity and sex/sexual innuendos.  I can only recall one reference to sex and maybe a swear word or two.  As odd as it may sound, this was pleasant as I feel too many movies today try to make it off of one of those.  This movie was storyline focused and a must see for American history buffs.

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