All The President's Men (1976)

Here's a great thriller with no car chases or explosions.

In his commentary, actor and producer Robert Redford notes the talent behind this fine 1976 drama feared audiences would find a story about two newspaper reporters digging into the Watergate break-in to be too boring.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Director Alan Pakula's All the President's Men rolls right along thanks to a great cast and crackerjack storytelling.

New Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (Redford) senses something is up after the Democratic national headquarters is broken into. He drops by the courthouse and sees a bigshot attorney (Nicolas Coster) is in the gallery. Such high-priced talent seems at odds with a bungled break-in. The story keeps getting more interesting. All the accused have ties to the Central Intelligence Agency. The name of a special counsul to President Richard Nixon enters the fray.

Woodward gets teamed up with more experienced writer Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) to keep digging. The pressure the two reporters is under is significant. Few other reporters in Washington are paying attention to the Watergate break-in. Post brass want political writers to take on the story. Plenty of people Bernstein and Woodward want to speak with are keeping their lips tightly shut. Many doors are shut in their faces. The New York Times is also sniffing around, covering the same people. The two Post reporters don't want to lose a scoop - the most important thing for a working journalist.

Their determined efforts yields occasional paydirt - people associated with the Republican party and a committee to re-elect Nixon who are willing to talk off the record, to a point. A bookkeeper (Jane Alexander) is the first to speak. A lawyer, Donald Segretti (Robert Walden), who has helped the Republicans mess up the efforts of Democratic candidates also talks. Woodward also has Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), an insider who also offers limited guidance and points out where the Post's efforts are wrong - or not digging deep enough.

This film, winner of four Oscars, boasts a stellar supporting cast including Jason Robards as Post publisher Ben Bradlee. He's interested, to a point, in what Woodward and Bernstein are doing, but keeps demanding more sources to back up their story. Jack Warden and Martin Balsam are also very fine as newspaper managers.

All the President's Men is one of those films where viewers must pay very close attention to keep connecting the dots in the plot. Redford's reaction, at several points, is impressive as he realizes the scope of his story keeps getting bigger and bigger.

What a great joy - as a newspaper reporter - to see a bustling newsroom and big stories being chased. I love the final shot of Nixon celebrating his re-election with Redford in the background pecking away at another story that would eventually force Nixon to resign from office.

All the President's Men is a great film.

RATING: 10/10

FUN FACTS: Stephen Collins, who appears as Hugh Sloan, starred in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Wow. F. Murray Abraham is one of the police officers who nabs the Watergate burglars.

Nicolas Coster was a seaman in 1953's Titanic.

That's television mom Meredith Baxter as Sloan's wife, Debbie.

Toy Story III (2010)

Wow, what a return.


Eleven years after Toy Story II, Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tom Allen) and the gang are back for the third chapter in this enormously enteraining animated series.

HE DOESN'T LOVE US ANYMORE


Here's a rare example of a film series that keeps on delivering the goods. For every The Empire Strikes Back, there's plenty of Back to the Future IIs. Translation: the magic that made the first film so good, and Back to the Future was a very well-made film, is long gone.


Toy Story III is a wonderful film packed with humour and touching emotion. Just don't let the really young ones anywhere near this comedy from director Lee Unkrich.

TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER ONES


A near-death experience for Woody and friends near the film's end is intense enough for adult viewers, let alone youngsters. Nightmares would appear to be a given if children get a look-see at this film. I'm not a parent, but I'm guessing anyone under eight would be really upset by Toy Story III. Parents, feel free to weigh in with your suggestions.


Andy (John Morris) is leaving for college. His room must be cleaned out before he ships out.


Woody and company haven't received much attention in a very long time. Andy has grown up and left his old friends behind. Dissension is in the ranks. Woody argues their loyalty should remain with Andy. He is their boy. Others want to experience the joy of being with a child again. It's a fair argument.


PARADISE OR PRISON?


The gang ends up donated to a nursery. Their new venue appears promising. It's big. It's colourful. There are plenty of children. "We hit the jackpot," cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) suggests. But the nursery is overseen by Lotsa (Ned Beatty), a bitter stuffed bear who lost the attention of a little girl years ago. This bruin's bad. His creepy baby henchman is a disturbing sight.


It's up to Woody to free his friends and get back to Andy's home. Time is short. He leaves soon for school.


Toy Story III works in many ways.


WELCOME ABOARD, KEN


The addition of Ken (Michael Keaton) is a real hoot. Here's a guy who has his issues. "I'm not a girl's toy," he argues at one point. He discovers Barbie (Jodi Benson) is part of Woody's posse. As much as he loves her, Ken is also part of Lotsa's gang. But Barbie, who has a brain in this film, knows just what buttons to push to break him.


Lotsa has turned the daycare into a prison. This sets up the film's breakout plot. Chatter Telephone (Teddy Newton) is the sage old-timer who breaks down all the challenges Woody et al have to overcome to gain their freedom. A toy monkey is their chief nemesis. How he is described is a real treat.


Toy Story III also delivers some real howlers of dialogue, including a fantastic description of Lotsa's evil ways and Ken's laments for fashion appreciation.


Unkrich has helmed each of the Toy Story films. Each is great fun. Anyone for Toy Story IV? I'm game.


RATING: 9/10

FUN FACTS: Jodi Benson first voiced Barbie in Dance! Workout with Barbie in 1992. She was also Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

Blake Clark, who appears as Slinky Dog, was a military police officer in the final episode of M*A*S*H.

Deliverance

Get ready for a wild ride.

Nearly 40 years after its release, Deliverance still packs a powerful punch.

This was director John Boorman's first major directorial effort after directing about a half-dozen episodes of both Citizen 63 and The Newcomers in the 1960s. It's an amazing first effort by the British director for an American film.

Deliverance's plot is unveiled in voiceovers beginning as soon as the film starts.

BREAKTHROUGH FOR REYNOLDS

Lewis (Burt Reynolds) wants to paddle the Chattooga River in the final days before the waterway in North Georgia is flooded by a dam.

Reynolds, in his first major film role, is well cast as a man who loves challenging nature. He's the most well-suited of the four buddies from the big city to go toe-to-toe with the outdoors.

Ed (Jon Voight, three years after generating major buzz with Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy) is a family man with a soft spot for his pipe. He doesn't really have an answer when Lewis asks him why he keeps joining him on his nature treks.

Bobby (Ned Beatty) is the salesman who doesn't want to make waves (pardon the pun). "I'm not used to being yelled at," he suggests at one point.

Drew (Ronny Cox) appears the most interested in meeting the Georgian locals. For anyone wondering where the instrumental, Dueling Banjos, came from, here's your answer.

Their weekend adventure doesn't start well when Lewis challenges some of the locals the quartet will need help from to end their adventure.

Things soon get worse.

When Ed and Bobby appear to get lost during the group's second day on the water, they meet up with two men with very sinister plans for their well-being.

When Bobby is degraded, it leads to one of the film's most-famous lines as his tormentor wants to make him "squeal like a pig."

Lewis gets his friends out of their very dangerous jam, but at a deadly price. What Lewis decides to do to keep the incident hush-hush torments Drew, a strong emotion which may contribute to his fate.

GREAT STUNTS, NO EASY ANSWERS

Deliverance works because of four great performances, incredible action scenes shot on the river and its exploration of what civilized people do to survive. There's several moral dilemmas that don't offer easy answers. When police start to investigate what's happened to the four, Boorman builds up a very effective sense of foreboding. Music is kept to a minimum. So many scenes of silence in this adventure/drama help ratchet up the tension.

Deliverance also doesn't offer easy answers to the situations the four paddlers face. There's a reason why Ed faces a grisly nightmare at the film's end.

Rating: 9/10

BONUS FEATURES

The DVD copy I viewed included plenty of bonus material including commentary from Boorman and period footage of James Dickey in The Dangerous World of Deliverance. He wrote the screenplay based on his own book. There's also a four-part retrospective with Boorman and the film's stars.

FUN FACTS: Charley Boorman, the director's son, appears as Ed's Boy. The younger Boorman also appeared in Excalibur and The Emerald Forest, also directed by his father. Deliverance was nominated for three Oscars (best director, best picture, best film editing). The Godfather won for best picture. Bob Fosse was named best director.

Running time: 109 minutes.