All the President's Men  Watchdog journalism At its best!

Rating: Null/10 (25 February 2005)

This spellbinding political drama is based on the non-fictional book written by the journalists, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The two, unearthed one of the devastating scandals in the American history, 'Watergate,' that knocked the President Richard Nixon. This movieconstructed upon the blow-by-blow account of investigationtells of the ways and means adopted by these two journalists.
Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) are the reporters of the prestigious Washington Post. The relatively less experienced Bob and the experienced Carl are assigned for the burglary case, which took place at Watergate hotel. While fixing bugs, five men are caught in Watergate hotel, where the Democratic Party's headquarter is located. While investigating, they find the transactions of huge sums of money and the link leads to several highly placed personnel.
In search of truth, they literally knock the doors of several people. But the riddle presents more confusing picture, with its every turn. At office, they face the wrath of tough-minded older journalists, who question them on the relevance and importance of the news story. The only solace for them is the once-suspicious Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards), an editor, who shows his stubborn support. Through many sources and their ever-reliable secret informer, Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), they construct an authentic account.
The story gets bigger and bigger and eventually receives furor from every quarter, most importantly from the White House. Finally, their epoch-making 'Watergate scandal' report forced the Republican President, Richard Nixon to step down from the office.
Nominated for 8 Categories, 'All the President's Men' took away 4 Oscars.
Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman spent their time observing the journalists and came out with sterling performances. The screen-stealing Jason Robards deservedly won the Oscar for enacting the straightforward editor's role with finesse.
The noisy typewriter keys striking paper were created by layering the sounds of gunshots and whiplashes, accentuating its theme of 'words as weapons.' After this groundbreaking news coverage, 'Watergate' has entered the political lexicon as a term synonymous with corruption and scandal.
This was the first film Jimmy Carter watched during his presidential tenure! It is widely believed that the coverage of Watergate scandal became an effective do's and don'ts guide for the would-be journalists.
Director Alan J. Pakula ardently presented this hot-boiled real-life event, which transformed the face of both politics and journalism!