Rating of
3.5/4
I'm not a crook!
memento_mori - wrote on 09/08/13
A political thriller that's good. When's the last time we had that?
Hoffman and Redford are fantastic as always. Their chemistry isn't the best, but it was enough to make me believe these were two intelligent guys stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nowhere for them to go, but continue with the project they have been leading.
The film is always very interesting and engaging, focusing on the aspects from a very peculiar standpoint, mostly from the perspective of the characters talking on the phone, instead of direct confrontational dialogue, which was a relief from the average thriller.
The way it was written allowed a lot of inclusion of humor. Although not too inventive at parts, the comedic relief was present somewhere in the mix.
I think what desperately needed to be emphasized in the film was the occurrence of Watergate itself. Half the time I didn't even know what Woodward and Bernstein were talking about, or what leads they were pursuing. The event was briefly covered in the opening, but it wasn't enough for me to really sink my teeth into the meat of the story, so to speak.
There were a lot of names to keep up with, too.
I can't really define this as a political thriller. I can define it as an excellent political summary, depicting what was necessary in the scandal of Watergate and its following investigation and involvement of Richard Nixon's re-election. A great script, two great performances, a great film.
