Watched the film "Nixon" by Oliver Stone today.
First, as y'all might suspect, I'm no fan of Nixon. I read Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" detailing the '72 US presidential election every four years for a good dose of perspective on the corruption inherent in US politics and hold the opinion of Nixon that is the typical opinion of most: he was a cynical, manipulative politician that rode the worst emotions of the US general public (fear, jingoism, vindictiveness) to the nation's highest office.
And, for what it is worth, I've never been much of a fan of Oliver Stone's work as a director. Sensationalistic, conspiracy-ridden nonsense in the handful of films of his I have seen.
Now, those points entered, let me say this....
This was an absolutely amazing film. Checking in at 'round about three hours, the first hour or so took its time pulling me in. And there was some BS JFK/Cuba conspiracy tangents in the first hour that had me just about ready to shut the damn thing down and move on to Batman or some crap...
But, I'm glad I persisted. Stone told this story as a great Greek tragedy. You all know the downfall at the end, but the first two-plus hours of the film are spent - for the most part - building up Nixon. He tells you all the reasons why Nixon was on the right side of history. He pulls you, ever reluctantly, over to Nixon's side. Makes the historical monster relatable. There's a great scene - purely fictional of course - where Nixon (played absolutely superbly by Anthony Hopkins - and now's a good time to call out the rest of the cast: Joan Allen as Pat Nixon, Paul Sorvino as Henry Kissinger, Powers Boothe as Alexander Haig, J.T. Walsh as Ehrlichman, James Woods as Halderman, but the whole friggin' cast is phenomenal) goes to the Lincoln Memorial late at night and there are a bunch of Vietnam War protestors there, and he actually comes across as human and engages in dialogue with them. And you're rooting for Nixon. You see his point. You want him to connect with the kids and make them at least temporarily understand his point of view.
And then, in the last hour of the movie, as Watergate unfolds, as he finally resigns... Just amazing. You're in his shoes. You're there with Kissinger in Nixon's final hours. You understand the magnitude of the President of the GD United States of America resigning rather than letting his "private" tapes be subpoenaed..
I don't watch a ton of movies, but the movies I watch tend to be "serious" movies. Classics.
"Nixon"? Yup. Right up there with the best movies I've ever watched. And I'm enormously surprised that I just wrote that sentence.
