Nixon (Election Year Edition) (2010)

When Anthony Hopkins was cast as Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's bio of the 37th President, many were leery of the casting choice. I myself pictured Hopkins doing a combination of Nixon and Hannibal Lecter: "I'm not a crook -and if anyone thinks so, I'll eat their liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti .... SLURP!!" However, Hopkins does do a marvelous job and disappears into the role without becoming a standup comedian's caricature. Even though Nixon does and says vile things throughout the film, the audience still has sympathy for the character -even those like me who found the real Richard Nixon dispicable.

Stone portrays Nixon as a tragic figure who had the intelligence and the electoral mandate to elevate himself and his administration to greatness, but let it all slip away by becoming bogged down in the quagmire of Watergate. Nixon complains incessantly about how the Kennedys are everything he is not. However, it becomes clear that his hatred of the Kennedys is based as much on his loathing of himself as on any real scorn shown him by the "Eastern establishment."

Stone, as in JFK, takes certain liberties with Nixon's story and acknowledges as much in a disclaimer before the story begins. Even those who believe President Kennedy was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy, for example, would find it hard to believe that Richard Nixon was involved, even tacitly, in the plot to kill JFK. Stone also takes liberties with his portrayal of Richard and Pat Nixon's marital relationship. Even though some incidents are no doubt true, it's pretty clear that some scenes between the two are conjecture on Stone's part.

However, these are minor quibbles. Nixon is a penetrating, engrossing biography that both portrays him as a ruthless, vicous, paranoic lunatic and a character who elicits sympathy from the audience. The supporting cast is amazing and includes James Woods, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, David Hyde Pierce, Annabeth Gish, Kevin Dunn, J.T. Walsh, Powers Booth, Paul Sorvino, Edward Herrmann, Larry Hagman, Dan Hedeya, Tony LoBianco, Bob Hoskins, E.G. Marshall, David Paymer, Tony Goldwyn, Fuyvush Finkel and Saul Rubinek. However, the standout supporting player is Joan Allen as Pat Nixon who is a dead ringer for the former First Lady. Allen's portrayal shows the emotional pain Mrs. Nixon endured behind the seemingly placid facade she presented to the American public. Coupled with Hopkins' Nixon, it's an acting tour de force that carries the film.

After all the vile things he does during the course of the film, Nixon, the night before his resignation, is reduced to staring at a portrait of his idolized archenemy John F. Kennedy and proclaiming that "... when they look at you, they see what they want to be. When they look at me, they see what they are." Even the most die-hard member of Nixon's enemies' list can't help but feel pity for Richard Nixon during this scene. It's a great achievement by Oliver Stone to make this bitter, corrupt and wretched man worthy of the audience's sympathy at the same time we disdain him.

What infuriates all those apologists and fanatical supporters of Richard Nixon out there is that Oliver Stone supposedly has an axe to grind about their man by making a film like NIXON. They assumed a lot, but didn't even bother to see the film.

The truth is that NIXON is much more even-handed in its portrayal of the 37th President of the United States than I thought it could be. Anthony Hopkins gives a reasonably fair portrayal of Nixon, and Joan Allen is tremendous as his wife Pat. Although Stone's penchant for conspiracy does get the better of him at times, he sees Nixon as more a tragic victim than as an evil power-monger, a vision that is closer to the truth than what Nixon's enemies made him out to be in reality.

Stone wisely does not gloss over the simple facts about the man. Nixon was indisputably a great and cagey anticommunist politician who managed to split the Sino-Soviet communist alliance in two and thus promote stability in the Cold War world for years to come. But he left a lot to be desired as a human being, being paranoid, distrustful, deceitful, and, in the end, blatantly dishonest. In that sense, the saga of Richard Nixon ranks as the American equivalent of a Greek tragedy: so much explosive potential destroyed by scandal.

As in JFK, Stone has assembled a massive cast of people: Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, J.T. Walsh, and James Woods, just to name a few. Despite its few faults, NIXON is a fair portrait of perhaps the most frustrating and complicated man ever to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Buy Nixon (Election Year Edition) (2010) Now

Oliver Stone's "Nixon" isn't really the cinematic biography of American Commander-in-Chief and Paranoid Extraordinaire Richard M. Nixon, but more like a latter day "Richard III". Stone need only have given the ogrish Nixon (played fascinating and disturbingly by the gifted Anthony Hopkins) a hunchback and had him kill a few kids in the Tower of London to have completed the deal.

I am a big Nixon fan, if only for his strangeness, for his political eccentricity in a political system where only the bland, the smiling, the sound-biteable, the contempibly predictable is rewarded. Nixon, to me, has always seemed like an anachronistic creation of pure will, a force of random Brownian motion, a misunderstood Machiavellian demon, hopelessly paranoid, unmistakably brilliant, brutally deformed, unequivocally human, a misshapen creature.

Stone turns that on its head, and suggests that at worst Nixon may just have been naive. Driven, yes. Ambitious, yes. Duplicitous, only when it suited him. But naive. And that, truly, is the fascination with this lavish little probe into the mind and madness that was Richard Nixon, and the insanity that was the America he helmed. Oliver Stone's "Nixon" is flawed, oddly talky, features an impossibly gorgeous Joan Allen as the impossibly dowdy Pat Nixon. But with all that against it, it is compulsive. It is fascinating. It kept me up all night, for all 212 of its minutes (get the Director's cut). Can more be said?

Perhaps. Stone, who helmed "Natural Born Killers" and "Wall Street" and "JFK", is incapable of making a bad moviek, and "Nixon" is no exception. But like those other cinematic feats, Stone has a peculiar knack for glorifying his monsters: "Wall Street" became nothing so much as a Wall Street investment banking recruiting video for finance neophytes frothing at the mouth to become the next Gordon Gekko. "Natural Born Killers" made mass murder look sexy.

Same with "Nixon": far from a gnomish American Machiavelli, Nixon comes across as a sympathetic dupe, manipulated by his Quaker California youth, by his hopeless class insecurity, by the very real fear and lack of confidence made manifest in this sweating middle class creature, contrasted unseemingly with the sweatless WASP Prince John F. Kennedy.

"Nixon", then, is surprisingly sympathetic, a toxic stew of Nixon's paranoia and the insanity over which he ruled. Stone is a brilliant director, but he is capable of terrible stuff: here an editor is called for, and the team of Brian Berdan ("Mothman Prophecies") and Hank Corwin ("Natural Born Killers") cull the bad stuff while emphasizing the good. Director of Photography Robert Richardson, who loves MTV-quick cuts juxtaposed with ethereal, epic, jaw-dropping long shots (he has rolled out all of Stone's work---all of it!---"Natural Born Killers", "JFK", "Wall Street", "Platoon"---and gone on to helm both "Kill Bill" flicks as well as "Wag the Dog" and the lush Victorian "Four Feathers") does that voodoo he does so well.

Frankly, though, "Nixon" is an actor's movie. The acting is nearly uniformly superb, with the exception of Joan Allen (Pat Nixon, Nixon's dearly beloved), who was yummy to behold but totally failed the sniff test. Anthony Hopkins doesn't look a thing like Tricky Dick, but totally owns the movie and compels respect: and what a complicated role! James Woods does his thing as Haldeman, sneering and brooding the whole time. The late great J.T. Walsh brings up the rear as the crafty Erlichmann. David Hyde Pierce is nervous and spot-on as John Dean, though John Diehl is underwhelming as the legendary GG Liddy.

But again, this is an actor's Nirvana: Paul Sorvino as Kissinger (pure caricature)! Bob Hoskins as the cruel J. Edgar Hoover! Ed Harris as the murderous Howard Hunt! Uber-liberal Sam Waterston as the truly demonic (I mean truly demonic) Richard Helms (love the contacts, bro!). And best of all, the inimitable, tightly contained Powers Boothe as Alexander Haig, always in "charge here", always ready to blow. Did I mention the score is by John Williams? I didn't? It works (duh!).

"Nixon" is one of Stone's masterworks, easily rivalling "JFK" for pure consumptive paranoid entertainment. Absolute power may not corrupt absolutely, but it sure does entertain---absolutely.

Read Best Reviews of Nixon (Election Year Edition) (2010) Here

This review refers to the DVD edition of "Nixon"

This film opens with a notation, that it is a dramtic interpertation of the events based on public records, that some scenes may be condensed or hypothesized. With that said, you will find this film to be an enlighting, educational and entertaining look at this turbulent time in American History. Whatever you thought or think about Nixon, whether you admired him or hated him, you'll get a good look at the man who had such a great impact on the country and the world.

Oliver Stone keeps us fascinated with the story from start to finish. It includes Nixon's life as a young boy growing up in a Quaker family and the tragic loss of two brothers, that seems to have quite an influence on his life, his football years at Whittier College,trying to rise out from under the shadow of the beloved John Kennedy, his role in the Viet Nam War, the Presidency and of course the infamous Watergate break-in scandel, leading to his resignation from the Whitehouse. It's not just the events that keep us captivated in this well made film, but Stone delves into the depths of Nixon's soul and the people around him. His relationship with his mother, his wife, and the figures that he worked most closely with, are all very much part of this enthralling story.

The cast is simply amazing as they key players in the events. They all seem to become the very characters they are portraying. Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins(who does a fabulous job as J. Edgar Hoover), E.G. Marshall, J.T. Walsh and James Woods are a few of the very talented actors involved. I want to make special mention of Paul Sorvino who took on the look and persona of Henry Kissinger so well, that it took me several minutes to realize it was Sorvino!

This is a film that may well be appreciated by the History buff and the Film buff alike. It's a great way to learn about or relive this eventful era in American History.

The DVD I have is not the special edition.There is closed captioning in English for those needing it but there are no other special features. It is a good way to go for those just looking for a quality film with a quality transfer.The DVD presents a beautiful widescreen picture with excellent surround sound in DD5.1. And although Amazon is out of stock on this edition, there are some really good deals from the outside sellers. If you don't mind spending a little more and would like to hear the commentary and interviews,you may want to consider the "Special Edition"

Whichever edition you decide on, this is one film that is well worth having in your collection.

Enjoy...Laurie

also recommended:

(for Ed Harris fans):

Just Cause

and

Empire Falls

Want Nixon (Election Year Edition) (2010) Discount?

While Oliver Stone has many times given into historic speculation and wild theorizing, his unflinching love for controversy has always had my respect. With "Nixon", however, Stone largely sticks to the certifiable historical record, perhaps in response to the Kafka-esque damnation of "JFK." Nixon comes through in this film as I'm sure he was in actuality: a manipulative, conniving political genius, albeit a seriously disturbed one. Nixon as a pill-popping alcoholic? Such a stretch you say? Read the recollections of Haldeman and Erlichman, not to menton Kissinger, who constantly make reference to Nixon's chemical dependancy and mental instability. Actcally as history, "Nixon" works quite well. Sure there are embelishments for the sake of time: the "Jack Jones" character, for instance. But we would be foolhardy, not to mention dead wrong, to ignore the role of big money in the election of Nixon in '68 and '72. The supposedly "wild" ssumptions Stone makes about Nixon and his paranoia about the JFK killing? Once again, read Haldeman's own account, in which he speculates that Nixon's constant references to the "Bay of Pigs" was a "code" for JFK. (The Bay of Pigs operation was inherited by Kennedy from the Eisenhower White House, and who had been its handler then? Nixon.) I don't want to turn this into a rant, but I sincerely challenge Nixon defenders to actually go back and READ the history, which has become even more starkly clear since Nixon's death and the release of de-classified Watergate tapes. Like Welles and Kubrick, Stone is a man ahead of his time, and doomed to suffer condemnation by phillistines on both sides of the aisle. But his films only gain relevance, and furthemore, truth, as years pass.

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