All the President’s Men (1976)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander, Stephen Collins, Robert Walden, Ned Beatty. [PG]

Taut, riveting news journalism yarn depicting the diligent reporting of the Watergate scandal as spearheaded by a pair of dogged Washington Post journalists, Carl Bernstein (Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Redford). An example of masterful filmmaking that doesn’t need to be showy, or centered on towering performances or explosive set pieces; Pakula and company take an observant, realistic approach (rarely have newspaper rooms/meetings and journalists-doing-their-jobs felt so vividly real on the silver screen), coercing suspense and paranoia out of foregone conclusions. Despite the usual bits of dramatic license and a flood of names and details that can be hard to sort through at times, it’s a good cursory history lesson for those who didn’t live through the events and may be fuzzy over how exactly the word “Watergate” traced all the way to “President Nixon”; of course, it also feels alien (even incredulous) today to imagine the impact of journalism on public opinion toward politics, what with us living in the era of “fake news” and pundits-with-agendas where politicians can blatantly commit treason and attempt to overturn an election—bribes, break-ins and surveillance suddenly don’t seem so bad! Well-cast top to bottom, with Robards winning a Supporting Actor Oscar as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. Also won Academy Awards for William Goldman’s adapted screenplay (from Woodward and Bernstein’s same-named book), production design and sound. Lindsay Crouse and F. Murray Abraham make brief appearances.

93/100