All the Presidents Men

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 2016)

"All the Presidents Men" isn't about the water-gate scandal but the incredible journalism required to uncover it, and the overwhelming repression of the facts that Nixon achieved by abusing his power.
We meet Woodward and Bernstein who seem to compliment each other so well that their boss not only assigns them to uncover water-gate together, but he nicknames them Woodstein. Bernstein has been in the business since he was 16, so he has more experience with writing than Woodward, who got to the Washington Post 9 months before the beginning of water-gate. However, Bernstein is light on facts, and he's desperate for a story so he infers more than he uses factual evidence. Woodward, on the other hand, is an honest man that has a drive to uncover the truth that is unmatched by Bernstein. They compliment each other perfectly.
The film gets a bit confusing plot-wise towards the end, but what it succeeds at is making the viewer feel how Woodstein felt, and revealing the extent to which Nixon went to cover up details, as well as the sheer scale of the scandal. The way in which the film slowly unravels the scandal until Woodward realizes he and no one else is safe is perfect. The film is surprisingly comedic at many moments, such as the long shot of how Bernstein got into a certain meeting, as well as (of course) many very tense moments, including one long take that slowly, almost imperceptibly zooms in on Woodward while people gather in the background, showing Woodward's focus, as well as ours. This scene is particularly involving and exciting, despite just being a man talking on the phone, because of this reason. Anot her one is a scene in which they are trying to confirm who "P" is. The set up is crucial for that one. The film is chock full of these moments, they allows us feel the tension and paranoia that they did, the latter being most notable in Woodward's multiple meetings with "Deep Throat", which take place in an empty, dimly lit garage in which we never get a clear shot of Deep Throat's face, making him mysterious, and in one scene, scary.
It's an incredibly involving movie, and it's final shot reflects it's message perfectly: two TVs playing Nixon being elected in front of and behind Woodward and Bernstein, who face each other, writing in between the two TVs. Nixon is on the outside, smiling as many people cheer around him. But at the core of this image are two people, Woodward and Bernstein, uncovering the scandal from the inside with nothing but typewriters.