All the President's Men

All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976)

Recalling the inspired work of the two journalists of the Washington Post that brought light into the scandal that moved America and made President Richard Nixon dismiss: the Watergate. Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) had an informant named Deep Throat that gave them hints to make light on the break-in that happened in the Democratic Party National headquarters. All the President's Men shows their hardwork and stubborn perceptivity to preserve and maintain democracy.

All the President's Men is the kind of film that you don't want to close your eyes to miss any single detail of the plot. This is the kind of script that I would love to write. Being a historical fact the ending of the story is sort of secondary and there are no twists or punches at the end: we all know how it's gonna end. So the story has to be interesting and make us forget that we know the ending and that the facts are obvious to anyone. Alan J. Pakula delivers an extraordinary film from William Goldman's screenplay adapted from the book of Woodward & Bernstein. The investigation is so tight and entertaining that every bit of information the journalists obtain is like a victory from your favorite team in the playoffs. Redford and Hoffman are excellent in roles that required so much objectivity in their plays when we think that journalists must be totally out of any political allegiances...

A true classic of the 1970's, far from being as inspired as other Hollywood productions of its time like Taxi Driver or The Conversation, All the President's Men proved that the chase is always better than the catch. For fans of David Fincher's Zodiac too!


A Review by Michaël Parent