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Dec 13, 2014Nursebob rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Based on Woodward and Bernstein’s subsequent book, Alan J. Pakula’s film is both a taut newspaper procedural and a damning indictment of the lengths politicians will go in order to stay in power. Utilizing harsh fluorescent lighting, explosive sound editing (typewriter strokes superimposed over cannon fire...brilliant!), and a highly kinetic visual style Pakula’s cast of Hollywood heavyweights, led by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, breathe life into those glaring headlines while William Goldman’s screenplay tries to make sense out of a decidedly serpentine plot. Furthermore, the inclusion of archival television footage keeps things rooted in reality while the use of two-way telephone conversations, wherein the audience is privy to both sides of the call, gives a feeling of authenticity. Whether we’ve become more accustomed to Washington scandals in the forty years following Watergate, or just more tired and apathetic, All The President’s Men still serves as a valuable time capsule which hearkens back to the days before journalism became the three-ring infotainment travesty it is today.