Alan J. Pakula's peak

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2006)

Along with "Klute" (1971) and "the Parallax View" (1974), "All the President's Men" represents the pinnacle of Alan J. Pakula's career in the seventies. The definitive proof that not only was political film his forte in the seventies but also that this decade was his heyday. Then the slump began in the eighties during which he had a stab at other kind of cinematographic genres and reached the bottom in the nineties with fiascoes such as "the Pelican Brief" (1993), an unconvincing attempt to find the spirit of the conspiracy movie again or "the Devil's Own" (1997), created in chaos.
But back in 1976, he shone with this political thriller which related the scandalous Watergate affair from the relentless investigation two journalists Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) undertook. They had flair, used their reasoning and deduction faculties in a stalwart way without giving in too much to discouragement to reconstitute with tenacity and accuracy this scandal which will lead to the resignation of Nixon. All this throughout countless phone calls, conversations with witnesses who were however often reluctant to talk, intensive researches. More than half of the movie occurs in the editorial office and not only has Pakula a sense of space to make this place bright but also to captivate the viewer's attention while the two journalists pore over their research and discoveries. Technically speaking, his film commands admiration and respect: helped by the topnotch work of his photograph Gordon Willis, his camera work shines throughout the work which is also scattered by first-class sequences. The very last one of course and one of my favorites is the following one: when Hoffman goes to Redford's apartment to inform him of his new discoveries, the latter turns up the music very loud, then he begins to type on the typewriter and incites his companion to communicate through this scheme because there are mikes in the room. An ingenious way to eschew one trap their enemies set. Because all the ones who were involved in this affair try to hush it up.
An affair painstakingly reconstituted as well as a documentary about the American press's work methods, a faultless directing, a visual, technical splendor and a topflight performance, what more could you ask for from a cracker that can stand (or rather) encourages multiple viewings?