Dick's Last Stand

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2006)

looking at this movie now,it's easy to see that it's a child of the '70's.from the rotary phones to manual typewriters it appears to be from the tech version of the Ice Age.this,however,doesn't hinder the telling of one of the most fascinating detective stories in history.anyone over 45 probably remembers the Watergate hearings(maybe with some annoyance)covered live on T.V.but before all that,a couple of non-descript reporters with the Washington Post took a "third rate burglary" and turned it into one of the most important political events of the time.both Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman manage to capture the life of a newspaper reporter,showing it is not a glamorous business,but one that involves tons of legwork.the film has been criticized as being too slow, but i felt that helped to build the suspense.All The President's Men is fairly faithful to the book(it doesn't give the identity of Deep Throat either)and for a 21/2 hour movie doesn't appear to drag much.anyone that is in search of a good police story-this is a good one to try.P.S.the "newspaper room" in the picture is actually a Hollywood set after filming in a real newsroom didn't work.