Alan J. Pakula's 1976 film was "the most devastating detective story of this century," but I suppose there is a reason why it was referring to the 20th century. All the President's Men is a very interesting and riveting legal drama about the two men who tried to uncover the truth about the Watergate scandal of 1972. While this film is interesting in the sense that it was made so soon after the scandal actually broke, the plot just does not hold up for today. If there were to be a legal drama investigating some of the corrupt politicians of today, I can see why this type of story would be so popular, but I could not find myself invested in this story due to its lack of relevance. Thankfully the dialogue, performances, and some beautiful cinematography made up for the lack of anything else that I found intensely dull.
Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) are both investigative reporters working for the Washington Post. While they tend to be on opposite ends of the political and social spectrum, they decide they must combine their talents into uncovering the truth behind Watergate. As they go deeper and deeper into the scandal and start discovering more clues behind what really went on in that building, they become more entangled in a web of lies and deceit that shocked the nation in the 1970s. The script of this film, written by William Goldman, is a direct adaptation of the novel actually written by Bernstein and Woodward themselves. This was the main reason why I found this film to be so constantly dull throughout. Bernstein and Woodward are obviously not screenwriters and have no sense of how to pace a story for dramatic tension and I do not think Goldman had a strong idea of how to adapt it either. This story simply felt so informational throughout and while it was undoubtedly interesting to see how many people were wrapped up in this scandal and had their lives changed, it did not make for the most captivating narrative. I'm sure back in 1976 when this film was released and the Nixon presidency was hot on everyone's minds, this film was a lot more interesting. However, with the lack of expository context in the beginning, it is obvious that this movie is a political product of its time.
Hoffman and Redford's performances were definitely the best aspect of All the President's Men. Despite the often tedious subject matter, their chemistry together is unparalleled. The way that they were able to embody each of their respective characters was fantastic to see and made the dialogue throughout this movie fascinating. Watching through the AFI Top 100 has definitely given me an appreciation for the dedication and talent of actors throughout the 20th century and especially Dustin Hoffman. After seeing him in these various different types of roles and how his persona has progressed throughout those years has definitely helped him to become one of my favorite actors of this period. Alan J. Pakula's direction and Gordon Willis' cinematography helped to make this movie a clean, tangible production and I'm glad that at least those two's creative minds were focused on making the story interesting for the audience. Pakula handled this story very well and even though this film is a bit long, I could not feel any hiccups in the pacing or storytelling. He tried his best to make the repetitive use of sets and themes vaguely interesting and he did a great job in that regard. Willis' cinematography was great as well. Again, for only using a few sets and having limited creative space, he has proven himself a master of his craft. The many wide shots and two shots helped to set the tone of this narrative and along with the nearly ominous use of television in his shots, helped to create a decently tense atmosphere.
All the President's Men is clearly a product of its time. That is not a bad thing at all, but I am just plainly able to see how Oscar bait-y this entire production was for 1976. Even though the story was not the most exciting, Hoffman and Redford provided some incredible performances and their pure chemistry kept me invested all throughout this film.
My Rating: ★★★½
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