This film follows Oliver Stone's re-enactment of Jim Garrison's investigation into the Kennedy assassination. The same sort of meticulous storytelling and blending of archive news footage is used to dramatize the rise and fall of our 37th president.
It's obvious that Oliver Stone is particularly fascinated with this point of time in American history (who wouldn't be, it was a decade rich in drama). My interest in this film is partly one of a personal nature.
Three times in my life, my path crossed that of Richard Nixon's. After his defeat in 1960, he settled in my town, San Marino, CA, and I used to ride my bike past his house every day on the way to school. I always wondered what was going on behind the walls and drawn shades of that modest home - a mystery seemed to hang over the place.
After Cambodia and the student killings at Jackson State and Kent State in May of 1970, me and some friends drove non-stop for nearly 24 hours from New Orleans to attend the protest rally in Washington, DC. We arrived at the Washington Monument about 5:00 in the morning and were greeted by several people who told us we'd just missed Nixon. He'd come out in the pre-dawn hours to talk to the protestors, and everyone was in a bit of shock at what they'd seen of him. Later that day we were teargassed trying to break through the cordon they'd set up outside the White House.
Finally, after Nixon retired and I believe after Pat had died, he bought my great uncle's home in Saddle River, NJ, just a few miles from where my parents lived. I wanted to go over there and finally meet him face to face, but considering my shoulder length hair at the time, I didn't think I'd be very well received.
Nixon is an interesting character in American history, someone whose life spanned the Great Depression through the peace and prosperity of the post-Cold War years. He rose to prominence during the red scare period after WWII and was there during the nurturing of the military industrial complex (Eisenhower's words). Defeated by Kennedy and the vision of Camelot in 1960, Nixon rose from the ashes after Johnson bungled the war in Vietnam. But after having victory in his grasp, the darkness overwhelmed him and he faded into political oblivion over a petty burglary of Democratic headquarters at the Watergate.
Oliver Stone does an excellent job for the most part of capturing the inner person of Richard Nixon. His childhood traumas are re-enacted and inserted into the dramatization of his adult life to emphasize the turmoil within him. The feelings of inadequacy and guilt that led to his self-destructive behavior are one of the major themes in this film.
Another one which the director also touched on in "JFK" was his involvement in the circle of people surrounding the Bay of Pigs, Castro assassination plots, and of course Kennedy's own murder. Oliver Stone hints in a rather broad manner that Nixon, the CIA, rightwing Texas oilmen, Cuban expatriates, Johnny Roselli, the mob, J. Edgar Hoover, and Howard Hunt were all in some sort of plot together that tied into Kennedy's assassination. No details are given and nothing's ever definitive, but the suggestion hangs over the story like an evil spirit.
The acting and direction are superb. Anthony Hopkins does a fine portrayal of Nixon. The shiftiness of the eyes, the haunted look on his face, the mannerisms of speech and how he carries himself, they're all there. The cast is too vast to mention in its entirety, but of special note for their acting are Joan Allen as Pat Nixon, James Woods as H. R. Haldeman, J. T. Walsh as John Ehrlichman, and Mary Steenburgen as Nixon's mother, Hannah. Paul Sorvino does a terrific impersonation of Henry Kissinger, and Edward Hermann is uncanny as Nelson Rockefeller.
I do have some criticisms, however. There are several gratuitous slaps at Nixon's character in the countless scenes of him drinking and taking pills. I don't know if he was a boozer and a pill popper in private, but it never crossed over into his public life and I think Oliver Stone should have left them out of the film.
Also, the scene where Nixon meets Mao during his visit to open relations with China is just plain silly. The director has Mao philosophizing about how they're both evil men and that he's too old to care what anyone thinks of him. This is obviously a complete fabrication of events and is just another sign of gratuitous editing by Oliver Stone.
But all in all this is a fine film and a fascinating one to watch, both for its take on history and because of the great filmwork. I just wish Olive Stone would quit holding back what he really thinks of the VRW conspiracy.
It's obvious that Oliver Stone is particularly fascinated with this point of time in American history (who wouldn't be, it was a decade rich in drama). My interest in this film is partly one of a personal nature.
Three times in my life, my path crossed that of Richard Nixon's. After his defeat in 1960, he settled in my town, San Marino, CA, and I used to ride my bike past his house every day on the way to school. I always wondered what was going on behind the walls and drawn shades of that modest home - a mystery seemed to hang over the place.
After Cambodia and the student killings at Jackson State and Kent State in May of 1970, me and some friends drove non-stop for nearly 24 hours from New Orleans to attend the protest rally in Washington, DC. We arrived at the Washington Monument about 5:00 in the morning and were greeted by several people who told us we'd just missed Nixon. He'd come out in the pre-dawn hours to talk to the protestors, and everyone was in a bit of shock at what they'd seen of him. Later that day we were teargassed trying to break through the cordon they'd set up outside the White House.
Finally, after Nixon retired and I believe after Pat had died, he bought my great uncle's home in Saddle River, NJ, just a few miles from where my parents lived. I wanted to go over there and finally meet him face to face, but considering my shoulder length hair at the time, I didn't think I'd be very well received.
Nixon is an interesting character in American history, someone whose life spanned the Great Depression through the peace and prosperity of the post-Cold War years. He rose to prominence during the red scare period after WWII and was there during the nurturing of the military industrial complex (Eisenhower's words). Defeated by Kennedy and the vision of Camelot in 1960, Nixon rose from the ashes after Johnson bungled the war in Vietnam. But after having victory in his grasp, the darkness overwhelmed him and he faded into political oblivion over a petty burglary of Democratic headquarters at the Watergate.
Oliver Stone does an excellent job for the most part of capturing the inner person of Richard Nixon. His childhood traumas are re-enacted and inserted into the dramatization of his adult life to emphasize the turmoil within him. The feelings of inadequacy and guilt that led to his self-destructive behavior are one of the major themes in this film.
Another one which the director also touched on in "JFK" was his involvement in the circle of people surrounding the Bay of Pigs, Castro assassination plots, and of course Kennedy's own murder. Oliver Stone hints in a rather broad manner that Nixon, the CIA, rightwing Texas oilmen, Cuban expatriates, Johnny Roselli, the mob, J. Edgar Hoover, and Howard Hunt were all in some sort of plot together that tied into Kennedy's assassination. No details are given and nothing's ever definitive, but the suggestion hangs over the story like an evil spirit.
The acting and direction are superb. Anthony Hopkins does a fine portrayal of Nixon. The shiftiness of the eyes, the haunted look on his face, the mannerisms of speech and how he carries himself, they're all there. The cast is too vast to mention in its entirety, but of special note for their acting are Joan Allen as Pat Nixon, James Woods as H. R. Haldeman, J. T. Walsh as John Ehrlichman, and Mary Steenburgen as Nixon's mother, Hannah. Paul Sorvino does a terrific impersonation of Henry Kissinger, and Edward Hermann is uncanny as Nelson Rockefeller.
I do have some criticisms, however. There are several gratuitous slaps at Nixon's character in the countless scenes of him drinking and taking pills. I don't know if he was a boozer and a pill popper in private, but it never crossed over into his public life and I think Oliver Stone should have left them out of the film.
Also, the scene where Nixon meets Mao during his visit to open relations with China is just plain silly. The director has Mao philosophizing about how they're both evil men and that he's too old to care what anyone thinks of him. This is obviously a complete fabrication of events and is just another sign of gratuitous editing by Oliver Stone.
But all in all this is a fine film and a fascinating one to watch, both for its take on history and because of the great filmwork. I just wish Olive Stone would quit holding back what he really thinks of the VRW conspiracy.