Nixon - Election Year Edition

Rating R Formats Blu-Ray, DVD Genre drama Starring Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, James Woods Directed by Oliver Stone Publisher Walt Disney Video

Director Oliver Stone has made a name of himself by specializing in controversial films.  From the conspiracy plots in JFK to the satiric gun violence in Natural Born Killers , Stone makes it his goal to deliver a package of shock and awe to anyone bold enough to view his films.  In Nixon, Stone delivers again by delivering a sympathetic view of the president besieged by the Watergate scandal, who is usually remembered as a black mark in our country’s history.

Stone does a terrific job in shining a light on President Nixon, making him appear as a good man who stoops to low tactics to achieve what is best for the nation.  While the beginning of the film states that some portions of the film are theories as to what happened behind closed doors, many of the highlights are pure fact.  Nixon ended the Vietnam war and made peace with China and Russia.  Shortly after his impeachment, things got worse with world relations.  This movie also goes bold enough to make JFK look like a spoiled brat in comparison to Nixon and his hardships he faced growing up dirt poor.  Controversy is written all over this movie because it favors the opposite of how the standard history schoolbooks have written the presidents into history.  Stone has guts, and makes an admirable feat in showing support for a good president whose one mistake cost him everything.

Nixon is an enigma of a film as far as the length and what is necessary to be included.  This director’s cut is three and a half hours long.  Because so many scenes are dialogue-driven, the pacing can be incredibly slow.  I had to watch this film over a course of two days because it wasn’t gripping enough to view in one sitting.  The reason it feels that way is because it isn’t a standard scripted film.  The film is a historical bio-documentary, without a distinct three acts.  However, every single scene serves a purpose, whether it being character exploration or driving the events forward.  For those who have the patience to sit through the entire film, it is well worth the time.  However, this is easily a movie that will bore many people.

An enormous flaw in the movie is how unbelievably big the cast is.  There are more than a dozen main players, some of them even sharing the same first names.  The opening credits even say who is playing who.  Unless you know your history like an encyclopedia, it’s incredibly easy to be confused as to who each character is.  These people are all included in history, but on film it only creates confusion.

The incredibly large cast was picked out perfectly.  Anthony Hopkins is superb as Nixon, accurately displaying Nixon’s trademark smile and sneer.  His raw emotions of uncertainty and fighting for what he believes in accurately portray a conflicted man.  By the time he wants out of everything, it’s too late for him.  A heartbreaking scene where Nixon falls on his knees to pray after he’s lost his legacy is cinema gold.  A man who was once invincible has been stripped of his armor and left begging for redemption.  Joan Allen is fantastic alongside Hopkins as Mrs. Nixon, being supportive of her husband yet overly cautious of being disconnected.  Her meltdown after discovering her husband has been keeping secrets is full of compelling tension.  Her suspicious gaze is enough to strike down anybody in fear.  The rest of the cast is fantastic in their roles, although there’s too many to pinpoint who was who.  In particular, the always amazing Mary Steenburgen was a terrific as Nixon’s mother, Hannah.  Her obsessive fundamental devotion to God is creepy yet somehow works in providing strength for Nixon.  Steenburgen is even portrayed as the ninety-year-old version of Hannah in a small scene, and she pulls it off fantastically.  Her speech pattern reflected sad senility yet being proud of her child.

With all Oliver Stone films comes the Oliver Stone style.  There are plenty of instances where the color tones and gradients change.  Sometimes they serve a purpose, such as mimicking a television broadcast or lost 8mm film of a childhood memory.  Other times, it’s just Oliver Stone playing around to try and make a dialogue-based scene appear more tense.  When some random shots are black and white, it’s just distracting and I found myself missing bits of important dialogue.  Stone’s weakness in his movies has always been going overboard on sporadic color changes.  If he knew when and how to use them, his movies would achieve the balance they need.

Nixon is a fantastic film, assuming you have the time and patience.  This is a film for any history buff, and can be great in sparking some conversations.  However, just be warned that this film has it’s fair share of moments that add substance to the film but are extremely dull.  This isn’t an entertaining film, but more of an insightful one.