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.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

This blog always welcomes creative efforts that stand far apart from most of the same-old, same-old Hollywood produces.


Special effects. Explosions. Gross-out jokes. Sequels. Remakes. Blah. Blah. Blah. Yawn.


As good as Stranger Than Fiction is, it's too bad this 2006 effort from director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) and screenwriter Zach Helm (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) settles for an ending that just doesn't feel right.


IRS agent Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) starts to hear a woman's voice narrating his life. How often he brushes his teeth, the route he takes to work and more day-to-day detail about him in the Windy City is described in real time.


When said mystery voice suggests Crick will soon croak, he gets worried fast.


His humdrum life is just starting to look promising. Crick has fallen for bakery owner Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). His interest in her extends beyond her financial documents he is supposed to be auditing.


Sensing he's a character in someone's book, Crick seeks out English professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Hilbert lends a hand, even coming up with a series of 20-plus questions to determine what kind of work Crick finds himself in. Has he ever won a whistling contest? Do you have a dream?


The author in question is noted writer Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson). Writer's block has kept her from releasing a new work for a decade. Her publisher sends along personal assistant Penny Escher (Queen Latifah) to ensure Eiffel's book finally gets done. Crick has his help. Eiffel has hers.


Can Eiffel, known for killing her protagonists, be convinced to change her book so Crick lives in real life? What personal price must be made for great art to be born?


Stranger Than Fiction reminds this moviegoer of other films, such as The Truman Show and Delirious, that explore a character who's trapped in another story. It's a great concept for the movies, just like time travel (see the original Back to the Future).


The cast is solid, with some super cameo appearances by Tom Hulce (Amadeus) and Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously).


Low-brow comedian Adam Sandler showed he could act in Punch Drunk Love and Spanglish. Stranger Than Fiction is a definite creative step up for Ferrell from the comedies he usually makes.


Check out an extended scene on the DVD release that features a full interview between Eiffel and Darlene Sunshine (Kristen Chenoweth). This five-minute segment featuring the clueless television host ("I like to end each interview with a question.") offers plenty of laughs. Watch it.


As for the ending, let me know what you think. Did it work for you or was it a sad effort to put a happy face on what should have been a downer finale?

RATING: 8/10