A chronicle of the 37th American president Richard Nixon. As a Republican, he ran for president in 1 9 6 0, but lost in the debate against Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy. Nixon promised his wife Pat that he would not run again. However, he did and was elected president in 1 9 6 9. He continued the Vietnam War and even expanded it through US bombing of Cambodia, making him even more unpopular. However, his Chief of Staff Harry Haldeman and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger supported him. In 1 9 7 2 Nixon met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. In his second term, the Watergate scandal, a covert attempt at wiretapping the Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C., took its toll, and under pressure, Nixon resigns in 1 9 7 4.
Despite complaints of Nixon family members, Oliver Stone's biopic is probably the most humanistic portrait possible of the 37th US president Richard Nixon without losing its balance and objectivity. Even though he hated his presidency, Stone strives towards a neutral, unbiased and professional depiction of the politician, who is here excellently played by Anthony Hopkins: he reproduces an impeccable accent of Nixon, but does not physically resemble him, and thus certain prosthetics on his nose and jawline would have been welcomed. The crystal clear cinematography by the brilliant cinematographer Robert Richardson is stunning, all the supporting roles are well cast (including Bob Hoskins as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover), whereas some insights are surprising (for instance, the detail that E. Howard Hunt blackmailed the president (!) and demanded money for his trial of the Watergate scandal). However, overall, at 3-hours of running time, "Nixon" is perplexingly unfocused and disorganized, with random, excessive scenes and overlong running time, seemingly hoping from episode to episode without some tighter grip of a narrative thread. For instance, except for Nixon and his wife Pat (Joan Allen), we do not find out much about any other character in the film, who are just random supporting wheels. Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong is handled almost superficially. Still, the movie looks modern even today, and several little details have weight (during a dinner on the yacht where he was discussing expanding the Vietnam War, Nixon's steak starts to bleed on the plate; upon Haig saying that they cannot get around the Supreme Court demanding the tapes, Nixon adds that he picked three of them there; Nixon observing Kennedy's painting: "When they look at you, they see what they want to be. When they look at me, they see what they are").
Grade:++
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