The Fourth Estate Heavy at Work

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2020)

A little less than a couple of years ago Bob Woodward wrote the book "Fear: Trump in the White House." That's the first time I'd ever heard of him (or remember hearing of him). The book, as well as the author, were being highly touted. Woodward was called one of the best most integritous investigative journalists in the business. I bought the book on that endorsement alone.
I loved it.
Even then I had no idea he was one of the main reporters to help crack the Watergate scandal.
When I was perusing movies that I would possibly like and saw this movie about Watergate I nearly passed on it. Watergate happened before my time and it isn't something that interests me all that much. When I read the synopsis further and saw that it was based upon Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein I was all in.
"All the President's Men" is a chance to see professional journalists working hard at their profession and doing an excellent job. It's also a chance to observe what's known as "the fourth estate" aka the media. If the executive, legislative, and judicial are the three branches of government then the media or the press is a de facto fourth branch.
The purpose of this fourth element is to act as a counterbalance, a systemically opposite force that is to report, verify and question matters of governance and public matters, as well as commercial ones, conducted by the powers we the people have entrusted it with and bestowed upon it.
Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) were wards of the fourth estate that worked tirelessly to be that counterbalance to a government out of control. "All the President's Men" never takes a breath. I kept waiting and waiting for the theatrical pause when we get exposition and backstory. That never happened. ATPM was work, work, work. From beginning to end we saw "Woodstein," as they were called by their boss, pressing, noting, checking, typing, and pressing some more.
There are no explosions, no shootouts, no chases, no murders, just honest hard reporting. Maybe that doesn't interest most people, but I think the behind the scenes look at how a major newspaper operates added to the significance of the event makes for an incredible movie.