Great Writing, Great Film

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2000)

In this movie, the story is truly the star. The writing is absolutely outstanding, and deserving of the Oscar it received. And it is particularly appropriate since the film focuses on two (now famous) writer/journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post.
This film creates a fascinating suspense story that feels like it punches you in the gut. You want to cheer Woodward and Bernstein on, but you also realize that the story is true, and when they succeed it will drag the country through one of the worst periods of our political history. You almost wish you had the ear of President Nixon at the time to say, "Don't do it!" As the story unfolds, no one will say anything, no one will go on the record, the answer to every question seems to ask ten more questions at the same time. There are a list of players in the story that is a mile long, and there are times you wish you had a scorecard to keep everyone straight.
The acting I found to be a bit disappointing. Dustin Hoffman (as Bernstein) is particularly frustrating to me, with a pattern to his speech that often makes it difficult to understand what he is saying. Robert Redford (as Woodward) does better, though neither of the two seem to provide the dramatics that the story does. I don't know what I was looking for, but it seems as if I wanted them to be as drawn into the situation as I was. When they are told by Deep Throat that their lives may be in danger they seem surprised, where I was thinking to myself, "Get a clue! Didn't you guys know that?!?!." But perhaps that is because they didn't expect the worst from the government, and it is only as a result of Watergate and what these two reporters discovered that I "DO" expect the worst! I don't believe that Jason Robards was onscreen enough to create a true persona for his character of Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee, so I am surprised that he won the Best Supporting Actor in 1977. He deserves an Oscar for his acting skills, but I don't believe this is the film that was the standout demanding that award.
Parents, be prepared for some language in the film, though not as much as many films as of the year 2000. One odd note on that point -- I watched the film on American Movie Classics and found it odd that they would edit out language such as "bull****", but left in the word "godd***", which is used repeatedly in the film. Just seemed an odd editing choice.