Badmovies.org Forum

I just finished watching this remarkable film this evening.  What an incredible piece of movie making!  Wow!

As a Presidential historian and teacher of U.S. history, I have always been fascinated by the legacy of Richard Nixon.  That a man could be so intelligent and impressive one moment and so vindictive and petty the next is a living testimony to what complex creatures human beings are.

Frank Langella was simply brilliant in this role.  Thirty minutes into the movie I forgot, for all practical purposes, that he was not really Nixon.  The voice, the hair, the obfuscation, the rambling stories, the fiery temper, the gutter language . . . this was arguably the best portrayal of an American President I have ever seen onscreen.  It was at the same time both unflinching and fair - Nixon is not presented as some sort of evil genius, but rather a tormented man driven by his own paranoia to do terrible things, yet at the same time realizing, deep within himself, how terrible they were.

If you love history or journalism, or just relish a well-acted, well-written film that doesn't contain a single wasted second of celluloid, you must see this film.  It is the best movie out of Hollywood in ages.

I thought it was very ambitious to make a movie out of an interview so I do want to see this.   I really liked the movie  Nixon too.

Did you ever read "Nixon off the record" by Monica Crowley?  It's really good. 

I enjoyed it a lot, specially because of the acting. Langella is terrific, but Michael Sheen was even better. Could you notice that whenever he was supposed to be "himself" he still used his TV manierisms? Found that somehow sad and creepy at the same time.

Still, I think the film only reached its maximum potential in the interviews segments. The rest was good, but it somehow lacked nerve.