"It's a non-denial denial."

Rating: 8/10 (7 November 2016)

Alan J. Pakula directed, in 1976, a film with such rich source material as the nation's first ever president to resign, Richard Nixon. All the President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, as the two reporters for The Washington Post that uncovered the details of the Watergate break-in that spanned all the way to the White House involving the president. Reminding the audience of a time in which the printed word reigned supreme and reporters were also detectives, capable of uncovering anything, All the President's Men was a brilliantly written film, incredibly deserving of taking home Oscar's top prize for Best Original Screenplay.
As the 1972 presidential election is upon the nation, there is a break-in at the Watergate. Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) begins investigating the break-in, believing there to be deeper implications behind the break-in. Inserting himself into Woodward's work on the story, fellow reporter Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) begins investigating as well. Both men are a bit on the outs with the paper, with Woodward being newer on the staff and Bernstein who rarely finishes his stories. The two are an unlikely duo for such serious work, yet begin getting answers that are impressing and surprising themselves and their colleagues. Along with the constant guidance from Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook) to "follow the money" which leads them to uncover large amounts of money being deposited into the accounts of the Watergate burglars and where that money came from exposing how high up the ladder the money trail goes. The closer they get to the truth, the more desperate the implicated parties are to squash the story, the reporter's reputations, and The Washington Post itself.
I had been meaning to see All the President's Men for some time but continually avoided it due to a distaste of Dustin Hoffman's acting. I still hold out hope that I just haven't seen the right Hoffman films so I finally saw Pakula's 1976 feature. Dustin Hoffman was perfect in the seedy, underhanded role of Carl Bernstein. An added surprise was seeing Martin Balam's name rolling by on the opening credits. No matter how small his role is, he always brings great dimensions to his character. Robert Redford was also brilliantly cast as the diligent, serious reporter, Bob Woodward. In fact, Robert Redford may have been best in this role and truly missed out on any acclaim from Oscar for this role. All the President's Men, the better-acted version of the 2015 film Spotlight, has within it a recipe for a boring movie. Reporters gathering facts, typing, talking amongst themselves, and dead-ends are highlighted brilliantly against the perfect production design of the film preventing the audience from realizing the movie spans nearly two and a half hours. Alan J. Pakula also shows his directorial prowess by picking the absolute perfect place to end his film, at the inauguration of Richard Nixon's second term in office. The audience knows what's coming, we're invested in the work the reporting duo has done and are acutely aware that the seemingly perfect scene of Richard Nixon accepting office is nothing of the illusion that it seems. Closing the film with the public looking one way while the reporters are in the background of the shot, feverishly working on the story that will bring the president's misdeeds to the nation was a stroke of brilliance, sure to stay with the audience long after the film ends.